Guns and Swords
by Boulderstar2000
Summary: When Analyn the Dragonborn finds a ragtag groups of strangers out in the wilds of Skyrim, she quickly finds out that they are more than they first seem.
1. Chapter 1

**Been playing through Mass Effect lately, and I love it. Like a lot. It's an awesome game, and if for some reason you are reading a fanfiction about it and haven't played it yet; go play it. Now.**

 **Back? Good. I think this story turned out alright, and I'm really psyched to write more. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

A blinding blue flash lit up the navy Skyrim night. It went mostly unnoticed since everyone sane was asleep. Key words: asleep and sane.

…

Analyn was out for a night ride when she saw the light. It was off to her right, towards Whiterun. She muttered to herself "I swear if it's those magic anomalies I will scream." The Argonian turned Shadowmere in the direction it came from and set off.

…

It didn't take long for Analyn to get to the approximate area where it happened, and to her joy it was right next to a giant camp. That's when she heard yelling.

"Oh great, some poor sap has gotten themselves on the wrong side of the giants. Fantastic."

Dismounting her steed, she pulled out her razor sharp Daedric blade and ran towards the camp. When she got there, it was about what she expected. It looked like three people had gotten too close to the creatures and now they were frantically trying to get out of the giants' way. However, there was something off about the people; they looked strange. One of them was hurt though, and it was obvious that they needed help. Deciding that she would deal with her questions later, Analyn blasted a fireball at the giant closest to the group. It turned towards her, shook its club, and ran straight for her.

Now this sight would distress most people, and maybe send some into sheer terror. However, this wasn't Analyn's first giant fight. She charged right back and ferociously slashed at the giant with her blade, setting the creature aflame. It staggered, and Analyn made the most of the opportunity by continuing her onslaught with fireballs and blade. Soon after the giant lay dead, but the second giant had noticed his brother's opponent and was immediately on the Argonian. It got a swipe in with its club, knocking the breath out of her. Managing to dodge the next attack, she decided the gloves were coming off. Standing up straight, she gathered breath in her lungs and shouted with all her might. The giant flew backwards and crumpled like a doll. A final fireball finished it off.

By this point, the ragtag group that had been caught in the giant attack were all staring at her. Analyn sighed; she had gotten used to the looks people gave her when they found out she was "dragonborn."

Sheathing her sword, she approached them confidently. They didn't seem like bandits and after seeing what she could do she didn't think they would attack. When she got closer, it became clear that these were not average people. Two looked human, but the others weren't so familiar: One was completely covered in purple armor, one was human-like but had blue skin and strange hair (if you could call it that), one looked almost like a dragon, except that it stood on two legs and no wings, and the last looked almost like an Argonian except it had distinctly insect features.

No one spoke. They stared at Analyn the way she stared at them.

Finally the blue-skinned one broke the silence. "Um, hello! Thank you for saving us from… whatever that was."

"No problem. I'm glad you're all ok. Next time, don't get so close to a giant camp, they can be a tiny bit dangerous."

Her sarcasm was met with blank stares.

"I was kidding, you know, because you almost got killed by some?"

"That's what those were? Giants?" The red-haired human spoke.

"Um yeah. You new to Skyrim or something?"

"Is that where we are? Skyrim?"

"Yes, we are definitely in Skyrim. Did you hit your head or something? You're pretty far from the border to not know where you are."

"No, I'm fine. Who are you?"

"Why do you keep asking me questions? I want to know how six people got into Skyrim without knowing it." Analyn paused. "Wait, that blue flash, was that you guys?"

"I-I don't know, I guess so. We were onboard our ship when something went wrong. Next thing I know me and my crew wake up here next to these… creatures."

"Oh, so you're traders? If you wrecked, you're awfully far inland."

"Traders? What makes you say that?"

"Well you said 'ship' and 'crew' so I assumed. I've never worked on the docks but I know that much." Analyn replied, laughing slightly.

"No, we're not traders." The look on the woman's face changed. "Have you heard of the Citadel? Is there space travel here?"

"The what? Is that some sort of fighter's guild or something?"

Her face turned as white as snow. Similar expressions fell over the faces of the rest of her "crew."

"What? Should I know what that is or something? I didn't mean to offend."

"No, no you're fine." The woman talked as if her mind was distant.

The Dragon-like one spoke in a raspy voice. "Great. We're stranded on a planet without FTL travel. How are we supposed to stop Saren now?"

"I-I don't know. I'm sure Joker will find us, we can't be that far from the ship, can we?" The woman sounded more like she was convincing herself rather than the others.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Give it a couple of days and we'll be back onboard the Normandy." The blue one spoke again.

"If you want, I could organize a search for your ship. I may not understand what you're talking about, but I'm a legate in the Legion; I can get them to look for any wreckage or if it's at port."

The woman laughed. "Thanks for your offer but I doubt you'd find it."

"Well I think we would have a fix in at least a month if we sent word to all the Empire's ports."

"No, I promise you wouldn't." She took a deep breath. "Our ship… it sails the stars instead of the oceans."

"Are you sure you're not on Skooma right now?"

"Is that drugs? No, I'm not. I swear I'm telling the truth."

Even though what the woman was saying was completely crazy, Analyn believed her for some reason.

"Listen. What you're saying is insane, but my gut is telling me you're being honest. And I've learned to listen to my gut. If you're ship really does sail the sky like you say it does, how on earth are you going to get back to it? There's nothing I know of that could get you up there."

"That's ok, they should be looking for us. In the meantime, we'll have to wait." The woman replied with determination in her eyes.

"And introduce ourselves!" The blue one added.

The woman sighed. "Yes, and introduce ourselves."

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think in the comments! I appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**In response to some reviews, Shepard and crew don't have their guns and Analyn really doesn't care what they're wearing, she's probably seen stranger stuff. Also, there isn't a language barrier because... well mostly because I couldn't really think of a way to solve it if there was one. I'm just assuming that the non-human members' universal translators work both ways.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Why don't we go somewhere to sit and introduce ourselves? I have a feeling that we'll have a lot to talk about." Analyn said, not excited at the prospect of waiting out in the open for hours having a conversation. One of the few skills she was not an expert at was standing around doing nothing.

"Good idea." The red-haired woman responded. Analyn had gotten the feeling that she was the leader of the group. "Do you know anywhere close we could go?"

"Whiterun is pretty close to where we are right now."

"Whiterun? Is that a city?"

Right. Not from here and knew literally nothing about Skyrim. "Yeah, it's towards the center of Skyrim and is a hub for trade in the area."

"Can you take us there?"

"Nope, I saved you and led you on just for the express purpose of abandoning you after I make an offer to get to know you. Sorry."

The woman gave Analyn a 'done with your shit' look.

"Ok, ok, I was joking. You guys don't mind walking right? My horse can't carry all of you."

"Lead the way."

…

By the time they reached Whiterun, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon and the plains were coated in a golden glow.

As they walked up to the gates, a guard stopped them. "Halt. Who are these strangers you have brought to our city, Thane? I've never seen anyone like them. They're dressed so outlandishly…"

In a barely noticeable motion, Analyn turned, took a swig from a dusty orange bottle, then turned back and said "They're with me. What else do you need? They won't cause any trouble, you have my word."

"Yes, well…alright. I believe you. Go ahead." Without any further argument, the guard backed down and swung open the heavy wooden gates blocking their path.

The group passed through, and once inside the red-haired woman tapped Analyn on the shoulder and said, "That was significantly easier than I thought it'd be."

"Well I do have a way with words." Analyn tried to cut the conversation short, and started walking to the center of the Plains District.

Stepping quickly to walk beside her, the woman continued to talk.

"Yeah, but you completely changed his mind. How'd you do it?"

"What can I say? Men respect a woman with power, even if-"Before Analyn finished her thought, another guard stopped them. It took all of her will power not to roll her eyes.

"Who are these…creatures traveling with you? I haven't seen their kind before." He said, giving suspicious looks to the non-human members.

"They're not from around here, but it's fine. I already explained to the guard at the gate, you won't even notice that we are here."

"All right, I trust your words. However, if they do happen to cause any trouble then I'll haul them straight to the Dragonsreach dungeons myself."

"Of course."

The guard left, but continued to shoot dirty looks at the group as he walked away.

"People don't take to outsiders kindly here, I see." The male human spoke for the first time.

"Yeah, picked up on that, huh? Sorry. They'll probably get used to you after a while, though, they did me anyways." Turning, Analyn pointed to a cozy-looking building atop a small hill in front of them. "That's the Bannered Mare. One of the best inns in Skyrim, I'd say. Why don't we stop there to catch up?"

…

After a brief conversation with Hulda, Analyn procured a table for herself and the group. They got only a few strange looks from the inn-goers, and soon they all sat across from one another with a bottle of Black-Briar Mead in front of them.

"What is this? Is this beer?" The insect-like one picked up his bottle, examining it.

"No, not beer. Better than beer, in fact. Mead! Black-Briar too, the finest brand in all Skyrim." Hey, at least they knew what alcohol was.

"Black-Briar huh? Figures a milk-drinker like you'd say something like that!" Uthgerd called from a few tables over.

"You say that, yet all you drink is Honningbrew! That's stuff's so sweet not even bees would drink it!"

"Ah, you got me there." She chuckled, "Anytime you wanna have a few drinks, let me know. It'll be on me."

Analyn smiled politely, then turned back to the table. She loved Uthgerd, she really did, but right now Analyn wanted to get all this 'strangers from the stars who know nothing about Skyrim' thing out of the way.

"I assume you two are acquaintances?" The red-haired woman said.

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while. When we first met we had a brawl, which I won, of course, and we've been friends ever since."

"So you got into a fight then became friends? Sounds like Krogan to me." The insect-like one from earlier spoke again.

"Hey, I might get used to this place then." The dragon-like one responded.

"It's just how things work in Skyrim." She opened her bottle and downed the entirety in one swig. Then she noticed that none of the others were drinking. "You guys not thirsty?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that we don't know what kind of contagions are present in this place and we could easily get sick by drinking or eating anything." The blue one replied.

"What? You're worried about getting sick? It may not be a shrine, but I promise the place isn't that dirty."

"It's not about how clean it is, it's about the fact that we don't have the same immunities to the bacteria of this world that you do. Something that would have no effect on you could cause one of us to get deathly ill."

"Well you've gotta eat something eventually or you'll starve. Besides, if you do get sick I could always whip up a Cure Disease Potion."

"It cures any disease?"

"Yep, and I make some of the best ones you can buy. See? I've got you covered; you don't need to worry about dying from illness."

"How is it possible that it can cure anything?"

Analyn shrugged and mumbled "I don't know."

"Good enough for me." The dragon-like one picked up the bottle and, like Analyn, quickly downed its contents.

"Wrex, what do you think you're doing?!" The red-haired woman yelled as he finished the drink.

"What does it look like?"

"I cannot believe you just did that. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"I'm a Krogan. We're tough. It'll take more than some alien drink to take me down. Besides, if that potion works like she says it does, I'm good."

"But we-"

Analyn cut her off. "Hold on, I have an idea. If you all are so worried about getting sick, I can just make a Disease Immunity necklace for all of you to wear!"

"Do you really think a necklace would stop us from catching diseases?"

"I promise it will. Besides, what other options do you have?"

Looking to the others, who all gave a nod, the woman responded "I guess it's worth a shot then. Thank you for your kindness."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." Analyn took a deep breath. "Now, before one of you dies of Rockjoint or pisses off some Nord and gets killed, I'd like to at least know your names."

A few moments of awkward silence passed while each of them waited for the other to speak first.

Finally, the insect like one broke the silence. "Garrus Vakarian. Former C-sec officer."

"C-sec?"

"Oh right, it stands for Citadel Security. I guess it's like the guards you have here."

"You mentioned this 'Citadel' before. What is it exactly?"

"It's sort of the capital of where we're from."

"The capital of the stars?" Analyn stared off into the distance. "It must be beautiful."

"For the most part, yes."

She sighed. "I'd love to see it someday." Shaking herself out of the daydream, she re-focused on the conversation at hand. "If you don't mind me asking, what race are you? I've seen some shit, but nothing quite like you or your friends."

"I'm a Turian."

"Turian, huh? Never heard that name. Although, not surprising I guess since you are from the skies or whatever. Next?"

"I'm Tali'Zorah; a Quarian. I serve as an engineer, if you know what those are here." Analyn noted that she had an odd accent.

"The only time I've ever heard that term used is with the Dwemer. Do you make constructs and machinery as well?"

"Yes! Yes I do! So you do have some kind of technology here! Where are these Dwemer? Can I meet them?"

Some drunk that overheard what she said cracked up from across the room. Analyn silenced them with a stern look. "I hate to break it to you, but the Dwemer vanished thousands of years ago. They haven't been seen since."

"Oh."

"Maybe I could show you around some ruins sometime? Most of them are still in good condition for their age."

"That'd be great, I'd love to see them while we're here." Although Analyn couldn't see her face, she swore the Quarian was smiling.

"Urdnot Wrex. Krogan Mercenary."

"Moving right along huh?"

"Well the quicker we finish all this, the quicker we can get back to fighting Saren."

Note to self: Ask who the Oblivion Saren is later. "Merc huh? Interesting. I don't know if it's sad or comforting that there's still a place for them in the stars."

"Just stay out of my way."

He reminded her of an Orc. Analyn was not fond of Orcs.

This time, the blue one spoke up. "My name is Liara T'soni, and I work as an Asari scientist and historian. Pleased to meet you."

"You too." This Liara person seemed genuinely nice. "A scientist? Isn't that like an Alchemist or something?"

"Not really, but it's probably the closest analogy there is here."

"You'll have to explain that to me later."

The male human leaned over to the woman and said quietly, although not out of Analyn's earshot, "Are you sure we can trust her, Commander?"

"I don't see what other choices we have."

"Yeah, I guess so." He faced the rest of the group again and said, "Kaidan Alenko. Sentinel in the Alliance military."

"A military man huh? At least I know what that is."

"That's right, you mentioned that you were part of some sort of Legion, right?"

"Yeah, but we'll get to that later. The last member of your group hasn't introduced herself yet." Analyn gave a pointed look to the red-haired woman.

The woman took a deep breath. "I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, the ship me and the rest of my crew are from."

"Oh ho, a commander, eh? Damn, I guess I can't order all of you around now."

Shepard ignored Analyn's playful comment. "So we've all introduced ourselves, now it's your turn."

"Ah, straight to business, I see." Analyn cleared her throat. "My name is Analyn. I'm an Argonain, Thane of all nine holds of Skyrim, Legate in the Imperial Legion, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, as well as the Dragonborn."

* * *

 **I always hate having to write introductions in stories, I always feel like it's clunky and boring. Anyway, please tell me what you think in the comments!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm really excited to start getting into the meat of the plot with this story; I like to think I've come up with a good direction for it to go in.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Well that's quite the résumé." Garrus said. "Even though I don't know what any of those things are, it still sounds impressive."

"Why thank you. Trust me, it is." Analyn replied, grinning.

"Feel like explaining what any of those things are?" Kaidan said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we reach it, handsome. For now, just know that I'm a very powerful and well connected woman."

"Did you just call me-"

"All this getting to know each other stuff is great, but we really need to find a way to get back to our ship." The Krogan interrupted Kaidan.

"He's right. You said you have no way to travel up there, right?" Shepard added.

"Nope, not that I know of."

"Hm."

"Wait! I have an idea!" Liara jumped up, rattled the table, than sat back down slightly sheepishly. "We could send out some sort of beacon so that Joker would know where we were!"

"That's a good idea, but how do we know if he's even up there? We have no idea how we got down here, right? The Normandy could have been destroyed or we could have been taken systems away from it," Garrus replied.

Shepard shook her head. "Yes, but the beacon could still attract the attention of some other ship. It's the best chance we've got of being rescued."

Sighing, Garrus responded, "Yeah, you're right. It's worth a shot."

"Ok, so we need some sort of 'beacon' that will reach to the stars, right?" Analyn spoke up. "I know exactly the place to go first."

"Oh?" Shepard looked up from her drink.

"The Temple of Meridia."

"The temple of who?"

"Meridia. She's one of the Daedric Princes, and her temple in Skyrim had a giant beacon on top of it."

"What makes you think that will work?"

"What's a 'Daedric Prince'?" Tali added.

"It will work because her temple has a big-ass beacon on top of it. To answer your other question, Daedric Princes are god-like beings that rule their own plane of Oblivion, a dimension parallel to our own."

"A god? How are we supposed to talk to a god?" Liara exclaimed.

"Give it an offering and be on his good side. Luckily for you, I'm on Meridia's good side." Analyn replied, trying (and failing) to not be smug.

"Ok, 'talking to gods' aside, if the beacon hasn't been picked up by a ship yet, what makes you think it will be now?" Shepard tried to get the conversation back on track. "Once we've figured out what we're going to do and are on our way to do it, we can talk all you want about gods and communicating with them."

"We'll amplify it somehow. Make it impossible to miss."

"That… could work, actually. Where is this temple?"

"Up in the mountains of Haafingar to the northwest." Before any of them could ask, Analyn added "Haafingar is one of the nine holds of Skyrim. A hold is basically a province, where it has its own government and capitol, but answers to the High Queen of Skyrim."

"Thanks for explaining. How far is it?"

"If we travel quickly and uninterrupted, ten hours. If we travel like normal people and run into a few bandits here and there, probably a day or two."

"Sounds-"

"Wait, almost forgot, we'll need to stop somewhere and kill some undead so we'll have something to offer her."

"Undead? Like go graverobbing?" Liara said, aghast.

"No, like find some necromancers or an ancient ruin and kill some skeletons or draugr."

"So you have zombies here, is that what I am understanding?"

"No, zombies are down in Cyrodil. Due to the cold climate we have draugr and skeletons instead."

"Those sound _sooooo_ much better." Garrus said.

"Sounds like a good time to me." Wrex countered.

Shepard interjected. "Ahem, anyways, what else will we need to prepare for this trip? I don't know if you noticed, but we are a bit short on weapons here."

"If by a bit short you mean we don't have any." Wrex grumbled.

"Yeah, weapons are gonna be pretty important here." Analyn sized them up. "Looks like you could use some armor too."

"No, I think what we've got will work just fine." Shepard politely replied.

"Hey, you think I can't make you a good set of armor?"

"No that's not it. I think that our highly advanced armor is probably better than what you have here."

"Oh. Well. You're probably right. Weapons and necklaces it is then. Why don't we reconvene at my house where I can figure out what kinds of weapons you all want? Plus, Mikael has been staring at you, Shepard, for a while now, so it might be a good idea to leave before he gets any ideas."

Shepard opened her mouth, but Kaidan spoke first. "Mikael? Who's that? What do you mean 'get ideas'?"

"Calm down there, he's just the local womanizer."

"Well he better stay away from Shepard."

Shepard shot Kaidan a look. "Where's your house? Is it far?"

"Not at all, in fact, we passed it on our way in."

…

"Welcome to my humble-"

"Long life to you Thane!" Lydia interrupted Analyn's grand welcome.

"Dammit Lydia! I have guests!"

"Sorry Th-" Lydia noticed the people standing behind Analyn. "who are these strange people you have brought here?!"

Analyn firmly places her hand upon her face. "They. Are. My. Guests."

"Oh. Apologies to you, my Thane." She turned to face the group. "I trust you will not cause any trouble while you are here. What can I do for you?"

"Are you a human?" Liara inquired.

"I was actually just about to ask Analyn that. I noticed that several of the people in the town appeared to be very similar to humans." Shepard followed.

"I am a Nord! Of course we are Man!" She yelled proudly.

"Lydia, why don't you go to the Drunken Huntsman and have some fun? I'd like the house to myself for the day."

"Like that one time Brynjolf came over?"

Analyn really, really wanted to slap her housecarl. She spoke through gritted teeth, "No, not like that. I'm just going to show these travelers around and set them up with some weapons."

"Ok, my Thane. I will see you next time you return." With that, Lydia pushed pass the group standing by the door and left.

Analyn turned back towards the group. "Make yourselves at home. I'll run upstairs and grab some more chairs."

Once everyone was seated, Analyn didn't give anyone the chance to speak. "What kind of weapons do you all specialize in?"

Everyone spoke at once.

"Assault Rifle"

"Shotgun"

"Pistol"

"Sniper Rifle"

"Woah, woah, woah. What? I have literally never heard of any of those weapons and I've seen some shit."

"They're all types of guns, do you have those here?" Shepard replied.

"I have never heard of a 'gun', no."

"Fantastic. This place doesn't have guns." Wrex complained.

"Well, what does a gun do? Maybe I could try to find a weapon similar to it?"

"I doubt it. A bow and arrow would probably be the closest thing I can think of."

"We do have those! So you all want bows?"

"Hm. The ones with biotics would not necessarily need a weapon, which would save you some work." Liara contemplated.

"Biotics?"

"It's hard to explain. Basically it means we can affect matter such as lifting objects and creating barriers."

"Oh, so it's kinda like Alteration magic then?"

"M-magic? You have magic here?" Liara's surprise was reflected in the eyes of the rest of the crew.

"Uh, yeah. I take it you don't?"

"No, no we do not."

"But your reaction indicates that you know what magic is."

"Yeah, we do. We just didn't think it was possible. Most of the time what is considered magic is often a result of some sort of science."

"Heh, can science explain the fact that I can set a skeleton on fire at 50 feet?"

"Well yes actually. I'd love to study this 'magic' you have here. We could learn so much…"

"Let's focus, Liara." Shepard tried to bring the Asari back down to earth. "I'm not comfortable with the biotics not having a weapon. While biotics are powerful, they still have a cool down."

"I agree with the Commander. I'd feel much better with a weapon in my hands." Kaidan supported.

"Ok, why don't I go over all the kinds of weapons we have here and you tell me what you want?" Analyn pointed out.

"Sounds good." Shepard said, followed by nods of agreement from the rest.

"You got your standard one-handed and two-handed swords, you already know about bows, one-handed axes, battleaxes, daggers, maces, and warhammers. I'd recommend against a two-handed weapon if it's your first time wielding." Analyn rattled the list of weapons off the top of her head.

"Hah! A battleaxe! That sounds fun!" Wrex yelled.

"Do you even know how to use a battleaxe?" Garrus retorted.

"I swing it at things."

Garrus sighed.

…

Analyn had left the crew at her house with some food and an order to not trash it while she went out to make the weapons. A bow for Kaidan and Garrus, a sword for Shepard, a dagger for Tali, and a battleaxe for Wrex. She figured if he couldn't handle it, that was his problem. The only issue was that Liara hadn't wanted a weapon, saying that she didn't think she could learn to use one and would rather stick to her biotics. Although both Analyn and Shepard tried to tell her that not having a weapon was not a great idea, she refused to listen. Oh well. Again, not her problem.

Luckily, Analyn had enough jewels and gold to make necklaces for the crew as well. After she finished smithing, she'd run up to Dragonsreach and enchant them.

Stopping her work for a moment, she asked herself, _why in Oblivion am I helping these people?_

She liked to think it was because she was a good person, but she knew the real reason, deep down.

It was penance. She felt guilty.

The Argonian sighed and continued to hammer out the Glass sword she was working on. It was going to be a long day of work ahead of her.

…

After Analyn left, Shepard stood up and addressed her crew. It was really the first opportunity she had to do so since they found themselves in this strange place.

"Is everyone alright? No injuries?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good, good. One less thing to worry about." She took a deep breath. "Listen. I don't know when we're going to be getting back to the Normandy, but we have to believe that we will. This beacon idea is a good one, and could very well work. If it doesn't, then we'll find something else. We can't lose hope. There's a galaxy out there that needs us, and we're going to get back to it no matter what."

…

By the time Analyn returned, it was getting dark, and shopkeepers were closing up their stores for the day. Opening the door to her home, she found the group much as she left them; sitting in a circle in the living room.

"No rampaging bears break in while I was gone, I see?"

"Alas, there was not." Shepard replied. She was growing on Analyn.

"I have your weapons, although I didn't have enough extra soul gems left over to enchant them." She slung a sack off her shoulder, the contents clanking loudly. Soon, each member had their own weapon in hand. "I'll pick up some arrows tomorrow; I don't have any extra lying around besides the ones I use."

Everyone was in awe of the shiny, new weapons they had in hand. Analyn was feeling pretty good about herself; she still had her talent for blacksmithing.

"These are… amazing." Shepard finally said.

"That reminds me! You need your necklaces so you don't die or whatever." From the pouch tied around her waist, Analyn pulled out six exquisitely crafted golden-jeweled Resist Disease necklaces.

"Oh my Goddess!" Liara exclaimed. "These are…these are beautiful! They must be worth a fortune!"

"Eh, probably. Sell 'em when you're done with them, I won't be offended."

After each of them donned their new jewelry, Analyn said, "You should probably go get some sleep, if we're setting out tomorrow, you'll need it."

…

A cool night breeze brushed along dark mahogany scales as Analyn sat atop her house, staring up at the sky. Was it really possible for people to live up there? She had so many questions. Dammit! She had forgot to ask about Saren. Oh well, a conversation for the morning.

"I'm not the only one who can't sleep, I see."

Or not.

"Yeah. I don't really sleep."

Shepard sat down next to the Argonian. "And how do you manage that?"

"By Oblivion, I don't know. I just figure it's a side-effect of being Dragonborn."

"You mentioned that when you introduced yourself. What exactly does it mean?"

"It means I was born with the soul of a dragon."

"Wow."

"Yeah. It boils down to everyone dumping their problems on me."

"Yeah, I feel you. Become the first human spectre and suddenly the fate of the entire galaxy rests on your shoulders."

"Spectre?"

"Basically what you said. It means I have to exact the will of our government without being constricted by the law."

"Heh, sounds fun."

"Sometimes."

"Before I forget, who is this Saren you and your friends are so focused on?"

"He's… well he's trying to bring an end to galactic civilization to put it shortly."

Analyn laughed. "So even in the stars there's something trying to destroy everything."

"So you're familiar with this predicament?"

"Yup. This big-ass dragon god named Alduin returned a while ago and I had to stop him from consuming the souls of our entire world."

"You defeated him?"

"Damn right I did! As messed up as this place is, it's still my home."

"All by yourself?"

Analyn felt that hollow feeling in her stomach that she always felt when she thought about him. "No." She was tempted to pour out her feelings to the woman across from her, but it probably wasn't the best idea to burden her new, tentative friend with her history, "I had the help of the ancient spirits of Nord heroes."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Sovngarde is crawling with them, the least they could do is help me out." She chuckled.

"Sovngarde?"

"It's the afterlife for Nordic warriors."

"Ah ok. We have a similar thing on earth called Valhalla, the afterlife for Vikings who proved themselves."

"I dream of going there when I die." Analyn looked wistfully at the stars.

Shepard's question startled her out of her daydream.

"Why did you only tell us your first name?"

"I don't have a last one. It's not an uncommon thing here. I mean, important people tend to have last names so that their accomplishments will continue on and their children can carry their glory."

"Well you saved the world, you're probably pretty important here."

"I don't really care about such things." A beat of silence passed while Analyn debated whether or not to go into her history. It had been so long since she had talked to anyone about it. "I used to have a last name, a long time ago."

"What do you mean? Why did you drop it?"

"My name used to be completely different. I didn't know who I was. I wandered and got into trouble, never quite being enough of a nuisance for anyone to care about and never quite figuring out what I wanted out of life."

"What changed?"

"I finally got in over my head. It was a petty crime, but I was caught at the wrong time and with the wrong people. I was going to die. The executioners needed a name, and in that moment, I knew I wanted to change. Even if it was minutes before my death, I wanted to drop my worthless past and start anew. I chose the name 'Analyn'."

"Well obviously you didn't die."

"No, I didn't."

Shepard looked at her expectantly. "You can't say that and not follow it up."

"Hah, you're right. My head was on the chopping block. I prayed to gods I never believed in before and apparently one was listening. Alduin himself attacked the city I was in and interrupted the execution. I escaped, and from then on I've been free."

"That's quite the story."

"I don't tell it often."

"Well thanks for telling me." Shepard paused. "Why do you trust us?"

"Because I've got nothing better to do."

"Than trust a bunch of random strangers you just met who claim that they're from the skies?"

"Yup. Gives you a perspective on my life."

Shepard laughed, and soon Analyn started laughing as well.

Analyn hadn't laughed like that in a long, long time.

* * *

 **Wow, I can't believe I wrote that in one day. Whew. Time to eat junk food and watch Food Network.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **P.S. Sorry to any Lydia-lovers out there. I couldn't help myself.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So while I was researching this chapter, I found out that Argonians are apparently descended from sentient trees. SENTIENT TREES. WHAT THE HECK.**

 **Ahem, anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"So we'll be taking the northwest road through Rorikstead and Dragon Bridge. Before we get to Solitude, there should be a small path leading to the temple." Analyn sketched a rough map of Skyrim in the dirt behind her house. "Rorikstead and Dragon Bridge are towns while Solitude is a city. The capitol of Skyrim in fact."

"We couldn't take a detour to visit?" Liara asked.

"Well I mean we could, but I don't see a reason too."

"I'd just like to see it. If we're going to be stuck here, we may as well see the sights."

"It depends. If we have any time, maybe." Analyn wasn't really fond of heading to Solitude; the guards there don't forget a face like hers, even if the bounty was paid. "Anything else?"

A chorus of "no" and shaken heads was her response.

"Then let's go ahead and set out." She swept the map out of the dirt. "Since you guys are new, I'll give you some pointers about the wilds of Skyrim. There will be bears, wolves, and saber cats. There will be bandits. There might even be dragons. Whatever happens, try to stay out of the fight. You are too inexperienced and would cause more a problem then help. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen." Wrex grunted.

Analyn sighed. "Besides the Krogan."

They all nodded, but they didn't look happy about it. They were just going to have to deal with it.

"Good."

…

Three dark forms stalked around a deserted giant camp.

"Master said that they would be here." One cried in a harsh voice.

"They must be. Keep looking!" Another responded.

"Yes, they couldn't have gotten far." The third one added.

In a flash, the three creatures were gone.

…

They had been on the road for about an hour without incident. Shepard walked behind Analyn, with the rest of the crew behind her. No one spoke; the silence comforted Analyn. She was used to it.

That's when the bears attacked.

Two cave bears came charging down from the hills to their left and immediately Analyn drew her sword and readied a fireball. The rest of the group also drew their weapons. Apparently they had already forgotten that she told them to stay out of the fight. As the Argonian blasted back one of the beasts with a fireball, a strange blue glow formed around the other one, lifting it into the air.

"What the hell?" Analyn said, distracted. That distraction provided the perfect opportunity for the bear she had blasted to jump her, knocking her to the ground. "Dammit!" She yelled as she kicked it off her. There wasn't any time to worry about the others; she just had to trust they'd be ok until after she finished of the first bear. A single slash from her blade sent it lifeless to the ground, and when she turned to the others she expected at least one of them to be horrifically mauled.

Surprisingly, that wasn't the case.

The other bear lay dead with a Krogan holding a bloody battleaxe standing over it.

"Hah! Next time make it a challenge!" He yelled, raising his weapon above his head.

Maybe Analyn hadn't given them enough credit.

"Are you alright? You look like you got hurt." Liara asked, concerned.

"No, I'm fine."

"But that bear was on top of you…"

"That's what the armor is for." Analyn proudly thumped her chest. "My own handiwork. Daedric and enchanted with various defensive spells."

"Sounds tough." Wrex responded.

"Damn right it is! Are any of you hurt?"

"No, we're fine. Liara caught the bear in a biotic field before it got to any of us." Shepard said.

"Biotic field? Is that what that blue glow was?"

"Yeah. It allowed me to immobilize it, and then Wrex here attacked with his axe." Liara replied.

"Hah, maybe you should be the ones protecting me."

"Maybe." Liara smiled.

Analyn turned back to the road. She said "We should probably get back on the road. Time waits for neither man nor mer" as she started walking.

Liara walked faster so she was next to the Argonian. "Mer?"

"Yeah, like elves and stuff."

"You have elves here?"

Analyn sighed. "Do you want me to just give you a rundown of all the different races we have here?"

Liara nodded. Great. Now Analyn was a walking lexicon. "So you have the races of man: Imperials, Nords, Bretons, and Redguards. They are all like your friends Shepard and Kaidan. Next, you have the races of mer: Bosmer, Altmer, Dunmer, and Orsimer. They're also called Wood Elves, High Elves, Dark elves, and Orcs respectively."

"I see."

Analyn continued walking, but Liara looked at her expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Well what are you? You said you were an Argonian and you didn't mention them at all."

"Oh. Right." Analyn cleared her thoat. "Argonians as well as Khajit are called Beastfolk. We're unrelated to man or mer."

"Wow. Are you uncommon?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well, I didn't see any non-human people in the city we were just in."

"Not uncommon, just shunned. Most people want as little to do with my kind as possible."

"That must be tough."

"Yeah, well get a big enough sword and reputation and anyone will respect you. Doesn't stop them from calling you scale-skin behind your back though."

"I'm sorry." The Asari seemed genuinely upset for her.

Analyn smiled. "Thanks." Normally the Argonian hated people offering pity, but for some reason, Liara's consolation didn't bother her. It actually felt nice.

Behind her, Tali called out "Who are those people ahead of us?"

Analyn had been so distracted by the conversation that she hadn't noticed the six figures on the road in front of them. Squinting, Analyn made out their gold-trimmed grey robes and elvish armor. "Thalmor." She bitterly responded.

"Who?"

"Just wait here. I'll deal with them."

"Not by yourself you won't." Shepard said as she caught up to her.

"I promise I can handle them. They shouldn't be any trouble at all."

"I'm coming too." Liara stepped forwards.

Analyn glared at them. They stood their ground. "Oh by the Eight, fine. The rest of you stay here. You two, follow my lead and let me do the talking."

…

"Carry on traveler. Nothing to see here." The aloof elf said to Analyn as she approached.

She tried really hard not to roll her eyes. She really did. Unfortunately, that effort was to no avail.

"Something you want to say, Argonian scum?" The forced politeness of before fell away to pure disgust.

It was now or never. Analyn could try to backpedal and repair the damage already done or she could throw diplomacy to the wind and take her chances in a fight.

"Hah! I will never stop worshipping Talos, pointy-eared fool!"

"Then you shall die a heretic's death!"

"Wait, what?" Liara yelled as the Thalmor drew their weapons.

"Get ready for a fight!" Analyn called back as she threw fireballs at one of the Justicars. Shepard drew her Ebony blade and Liara raised some sort of blue field around herself. _Must be biotics,_ Analyn thought.

Even though the fight was six against three, Analyn felt confident. She'd beaten situations worse than this hundreds of times over. Her only concern was for the human and Asari with her. With any luck, they could handle the other four until Analyn could get back to them.

…

The past few minutes had felt like seconds. One moment, Analyn was conversing with the unpleasant "elves" before them, the next moment they had drawn their weapons and started attacking. Shepard thought that there had been some comment about "heretics", but all that mattered now was surviving their first real fight in this new place. No wild creature could properly substitute for conscious, sword-wielding opponents.

Analyn was charging the two robed elves in front of her, but the other four had retreated off the road and had some sort of barrier in front of them. Before they left Whiterun, Shepard had taken a few practice swings with her new sword, but it wasn't any real training. Hopefully her talent for learning on the fly would aid her, so she followed Analyn's example. Running at the nearest elf, she raised her sword above her head and brought it down with all the force she could muster. It easily cut through the elf's robes and she cried out while stumbling backwards.

Well that was easier than Shepard thought it would be.

After a few more swings, her opponent lay lifeless on the ground and Shepard was out of breath. It took more effort than she thought it would to wield her seemingly light sword. Turning, she saw Liara had two attackers stuck in a stasis field. Analyn had taken down one of her opponents and was currently chasing the other, blasting fireballs at them. Counting in her head, Shepard realized that one of the elves was unaccounted for. That's when she saw them crouching behind a boulder, aiming some sort of spell at Liara while she was focused on her biotics. Before Shepard could do anything to warn her, Liara was struck with a bolt of lightning.

It tore right though her shields. They hadn't been designed to handle direct impact from an attack of pure plasma. Knocked to her knees, the stasis fields broke on the two in front of her. Shepard yelled out at Analyn, then ran over to her comrade. She slashed viciously at the two in front of her, who responded by blocking with their shields and attacks of their own. However, their blades bounced harmlessly off her kinetic barriers. The fact that their attacks had no effect seemed to confuse them, which gave Shepard the opportunity she needed. She focused on the one to her right, and in a few hits he was down. Just as the other raised her arm to swing, Shepard yelled out and ran her sword directly though the elf's stomach.

She heard the elf behind her yell an insult, and as she turned to take them on, it became apparent that her sword was rather stuck in the body of the elf she had just killed.

 _Seriously?!_

By the time Shepard got her blade loose from the torso, the elf behind her had readied another bolt of lightning. However, right as she was about to fire it at Shepard, a yell came from behind her.

FUS RO DAH

Some sort of shockwave flew past Shepard and directly struck the opposing elf. She was knocked to the ground and in a flash Analyn was upon her and with a single swing, the elf's head was rolling on the ground.

Next to Shepard, Liara shakily got to her feet. "You ok?" she inquired.

"Me? I wasn't the one that got struck with lightning!"

"Fair point." Liara dusted herself off. "I think my shield took the brunt of it; I got winded by the impact, but other than that I'm fine."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't every day one of her crew was hit with something that so easily went through their armor like that.

"Glad to see you guys held up alright in a real fight. I was worried, but it looks like you were fine without me." Analyn said as she approached them.

Shepard felt rage rise inside her at the fact that Analyn had just left them to fend off four of the attackers by themselves. "Why the hell did you leave us? You realize that I've never used a sword in my life before just then, right?!"

The Argonian seemed taken aback by her anger. "Hey, it worked out alright didn't it? I took them out as quick as I could. The bastards kept trying to run…"

"Yeah well Liara got hit by a bolt of lightning! She could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"So? It was just destruction magic. She probably could've taken a few more hits. Happens all the time here. Besides, she's fine, so what's the point?"

"So people getting hit with lightning is normal here?"

"Yeah. I could fire some off right now if I wanted to."

Shepard took a few breaths to calm the adrenaline coursing through her veins. A swordfight had proven to be more intense than she originally thought. "Ok, you're right. No one was hurt. Still, next time, try not to leave the rest of your squad, ok?"

"My squad?"

"Well yeah. You, Liara, and myself. We were your squad. The group of people you fight alongside on missions. You look out for them."

"I tend to work alone."

"I thought you said you were in the military."

"They let me work alone. I don't need to worry about the other soldiers. They take care of themselves."

"That doesn't sound like any military I know."

"Well, you don't know Skyrim."

Shepard didn't have a response to that. It was a fair argument. She wasn't acquainted with Skyrim or its customs. "I guess I don't."

"We should regroup with the others; I'm sure that they'll be worried." Liara cautiously tried to break up the disagreement.

"She's right. Let's go." Analyn gruffly agreed.

Without a word, the threesome turned to head back.

…

After a battle was never the right time for a conversation. That was one of the many things Analyn had learned over the course of her time in Skyrim. Even then, she couldn't understand why Shepard had been so upset over her actions in the fight. She had taken down two of the Jusicars, and saved her when the third attempted to attack with destruction magic. Sure, they had gotten a hit on Liara before Analyn got there, but one hit between the two of them wasn't a big deal. It had been the Argonian's fault that there was a fight to start with, but that was beside the point.

Analyn would worry about smoothing things over after they got back on the road.

"I can't believe you had a fight without me!"

"We didn't know there would be a fight, Wrex." Shepard said.

The Krogan still looked pissed, but didn't protest further.

"Would any of the rest of you like to register a complaint?" Analyn sarcastically added.

Garrus started to open his mouth. Analyn glared at him until he closed it. She turned and started walking. The argument with Shepard had really put her in a bad mood. Strange. Normally she didn't care what people thought about her. Hopefully, a few hours of enjoying the natural beauty of the land would help to sort out her emotions. There wasn't really time to find an enchanting or alchemy table to work at, and normally that's how Analyn sorted out everything that was going on in her life. Fighting hordes of draugr also worked, but that really wasn't an option at the moment, either.

"You ok?" Liara politely asked.

"I'm fine." The Asari had startled her out of her thoughts. Great.

"Shepard isn't really mad, you know, she's just feeling like she doesn't have any control over the situation."

Analyn remained silent, trying to express that she wasn't really in the mood for talking.

"Being the commander, she takes personal responsibility over the crew, and ever since we lost Ashley…"

"No, I understand." It became apparent that she wouldn't leave. Besides, the Argonian remembered when she used to adventure with someone. She had taken personal responsibility over his wellbeing too…

Liara smiled and stayed beside her.

"Anything else?"

"No. Just enjoying the scenery. There is such natural beauty here."

"There sure is." Analyn sighed. It was nice that even an outsider could see what Skyrim had to offer. "Trust me, it's even better when you climb to the top of a mountain then look down. Especially around Dawnstar and the Throat of the World. I get chills just thinking about it."

"You'll have to show me someday."

"Hah, I doubt you'll be here that long." Looking up, Analyn saw the pointed rooftops of a village off in the distance. Pointing, she said to the entire group, "See that? It's Rorikstead. We'll stay the night at the inn there then continue."

"How far?" Shepard asked.

"Probably a few hours uninterrupted."

"Sounds good."

…

Accurate to what Analyn said, the group reached the town of Rorikstead in several hours. As they walked in through the southern entrance, although it was debatable if it was even an "entrance." Hell, it was debatable if this even qualified as a town. There appeared to only be four buildings, accompanied by two farms.

The Argonian stopped in front of one of the larger buildings. "This is Frostfruit Inn. There's only one room available for rent, so you guys are just going to have to snuggle up."

Everyone looked at her and Kaidan.

She cleared her throat. "That shouldn't be an issue. Does this place offer food?"

"Of course it does! What kind of inn doesn't?"

"Ok, ok. What's involved with checking in?"

"I'll handle that part."

"Just like how you handled those elves?" Garrus piped up.

"Oh, for Namira's sake."

…

"I'd like to rent a room, please." Analyn told the innkeeper.

"Found some companions to travel with, eh Analyn?" Mralki replied, taking note of the people filing in behind her.

"You could say that." The Argonian pushed a small satchel of septims across the counter.

"The room to the right is yours. You have it for the night."

"Thanks."

Analyn turned back to the group, "you hear what she just said? It's the room to the right."

It took a little while, but eventually everyone got settled in.

"I'd just like to mention now that I have a penchant for snoring." Wrex called out from his position by the door.

"Fantastic." Garrus responded.

As Analyn turned to leave, Shepard caught her by the arm. "Wanna grab a drink?"

"Sure."

Soon, the human and the Argonian sat beside one another at one of the tables with a Nord Mead in hand.

"I'm sorry about earlier. With the Thalmor." Analyn finally spoke. She was scared at the prospect of losing a person who had the possibility to become the first close friend the Argonian had in a while.

"No, it's ok. You did protect us, and did everything you could to prevent it. It's not like you ran off or anything."

For once, Analyn decided against lying. "Yeeaaahhh, the thing about that is I didn't"

"You didn't what?"

"Do everything I could to prevent the fight."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let me head this up by saying that I hate the Thalmor and that they're awful." She took a swig of her drink. "The dicks are naturally aggressive, and I could've attempted to kiss their asses and talk our way out of a fight. Naturally, I insulted them."

"Oh."

"So sorry about that. I just can't stand them, and I was itching to wipe the floor with their elitist asses."

"You put us in a fight for no good reason?"

"Not exactly," Analyn was trying to use her most convincing voice, but the commander clearly wasn't buying it. "First off, I knew you and Liara would be fine. Even if you did take a few hits, it wouldn't be anything a few healing potions couldn't fix. Also, the Thalmor are terrors to the people of Skyrim. Randomly 'interrogating' people, funding revolutionaries to weaken the Empire, killing for no damn reason."

"Even if they are as bad as you say they are, is killing them on the road really the best solution?"

"Well what else am I supposed to do? As a Legate in the Imperial Legion, I can't exactly go declare war on them. That would violate the treaty so many died for. Rather, if I kill the ones I come across as a vigilante, then the treaty remains intact and General Tulius has plausible deniability."

"I guess you're right."

"Anyway, no witnesses, no crime. I always make sure that there aren't any of those."

"So does that mean you're going to kill all of us in our sleep tonight?"

"Wait what?"

Shepard was smiling. The fucker was joking.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Don't tempt me." She conjured up some flames in her hand and attempted to look menacing.

"Ooo, so scary." She laughed.

"Hey, I could roast you alive in two seconds."

"But you won't."

"Dammit, you're right. I won't. Just promise not to turn me in." Analyn winked.

Shepard sighed and got a serious look on her face. "It's good you found us. I don't know where we would be without your help."

"Probably some mush under a giant's foot."

"Hah, probably."

Finishing her drink, Shepard stood up. "I'm going to go ahead and get some sleep. I figure we're going to have a full day of walking and pissing off elves tomorrow."

* * *

 **Ugh, I rewrote the ending for this chapter like ten times. I just could not figure out how I wanted to end it. I hope it turned out alright.**

 **Please tell me what you think in the comments!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry in advance, this chapter is considerably shorter than the other two. I just felt like it was where the chapter naturally ended.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Rise and shine! You guys sleep alright?" Analyn burst into the room at the inn.

Assorted grumbles greeted her. Apparently none of them were morning people.

"I'll go ahead and get us some mead while you wake up." She said, more quietly this time, and headed back towards the counter.

That's when she saw him. A ruddy-skinned wood elf sitting at a table toward the back, bread in front of him and a Honningbrew mead in hand. He'd always liked the stuff.

Maybe if she silently moved back to the room, he wouldn't notice her. Crouching, she attempted to return the way she came.

The combination of his acute skill of detecting a sneaking figure and the fact that Analyn was clad head to toe in armor covered in glowing red streaks and big-ass spikes meant that her attempt of escape was noticed.

"Well, well, well. What did the cat drag in? Or should I say the lizard?"

Analyn figured an invisibility potion wasn't an option at this point. She stood up and replied, "There's no reason to be so rude, Faendal."

"Oh really?"

So that's how it was going to be. The Argonian wasn't surprised. "Yes, really. I was never anything but your friend, you know."

"If friends go and murder people behind their back. Oh, and did I mention the sneaking around and stealing?"

Their voices were getting progressively louder with every sentence spoken and the patrons of the inn were starting to notice, as well as Shepard and the others.

"Seriously? You're going to bring that up now?"

"If you were ashamed of what you did, then why did you do it?"

"You know why."

"Do I, though?"

"Analyn, who is this?" Shepard said, walking up to stand beside her. She sounded slightly defensive.

"What's this? Found some other fool to follow you and feed your ego?" Faendal sneered.

"No, I'm helping them get home."

"Sure you are. Next thing they know they'll wind up dead in a ditch."

Analyn cleared her throat. "This is Faendal. He used to be my companion. We would go and journey across the land together."

"Yeah, good times. They used to be good memories too before the poison of your actions seeped into them."

"Now really isn't the time."

"It isn't? What, you don't want your new friends to find out about how you murdered all those innocent people?"

"That's not-"

"Or maybe you're worried about them finding out you betrayed your oath to the Legion in a most spectacular way?"

"No, I-"

"If Hadvar won't believe me, maybe these people will!"

"FAENDAL!" She shouted. The inn was completely silent by this point. "Why don't you just let bygones be bygones? So maybe you don't approve of my past, and honestly, I don't either. What matters now is that we put that behind us."

"How can you possibly expect me to put that behind me? I trusted you! I trusted you more than anyone! By Oblivion, I even loved you! You BETRAYED ME!"

Analyn just looked at the floor. "I… I am so sorry."

Faendal just glared. "Your apologies are as valuable as a load of mammoth dung to me." He stormed out.

The tension in the room slowly dissipated, however a hush lingered over the people present.

"What was he talking about? Did you really murder innocent people?" Liara quietly asked from behind Analyn.

"No, well, not exactly." She took a deep breath. "I'm going out for a walk. Go ahead and get ready to head out; I'll meet you in front of the inn."

With that, the Argonian left.

…

That was definitely an interesting way to wake up. Mere minutes after Analyn had come into the room to wake them up, she got engaged in an argument with an elf in the main room of the inn.

Liara didn't know what to make of it.

He yelled things about her betraying him and murder, but Liara trusted Analyn.

She couldn't really have done all that, could she?

…

Three dark figures stood on a hill, gazing at the walls of Whiterun.

"Are they in there?" One growled.

"No, not anymore. But they were." Another responded.

"Well where did they go?!" The third one wailed.

"We shall ask master. I am sure he knows." The second one replied.

Where one moment the three figures had been standing, now they were gone, as if the wind had carried them away.

…

Analyn sat atop one of the many rocky outcroppings in the wilderness of Whiterun Hold, far enough from Rorikstead to be out of sight. She could see the small figure of Faendal in the distance heading back to Riverwood.

Divines, how had it all ended like this? Well, she knew how it had ended like this. She had been careless and Faendal found out about a side of her that she worked so hard to keep hidden.

They had been so close once. She trusted him more than anyone else in all of Skyrim, and he had felt the same. Seeing what they had become broke her a little on the inside. Even more so when she knew it was her fault.

However, it would take more than the haunting memories of past relationships to bring down the Dragonborn.

Sighing, she stood up and started back towards Rorikstead. Those travelers from the stars needed her help, and by the gods if there was one thing she could do, it was help.

…

Sooner than Shepard thought, Analyn returned.

"Where did you go?"

"Out to clear my head. I'm ready to set out." She replied.

"You sure you're ok?" Shepard was worried after that elf had insulted her so viciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Argonian started walking out of the town towards the north. "We're heading this way. If we make good time, we can probably make it to Dragon Bridge by nightfall."

Liara and Shepard caught up to her. "Who was that?" Liara asked.

"An old friend."

"Why-"

"I don't really want to talk about it." Analyn sped up so that she was ahead of the rest of the group.

"Well that was abrupt." Liara said, put out.

"Don't take it personally." Analyn called out. Damn, she had hearing like fox.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean…"

"No, no it's alright."

Seeing that Analyn was definitely in no mood to talk about what happened, Shepard dropped back to talk to her crew. She had checked in with them all when they stopped to rest the previous night, but there was one in particular who she wanted some extra time to talk to.

"How are you holding up, Kaidan?"

"Well we're in a primitive place where almost everything seems to either hate us or wants to kill us. Doesn't seem too different from normal."

Shepard chuckled. "Only thing is that this time we don't have guns."

"Yeah. It's significantly harder to use a bow than I thought it would be."

"That's the nice thing about a sword. All you have to do is swing it at things."

"All you have to do with a bow is pull back the string. Then aim it. And make sure you let the arrow go properly."

"If it's so hard then why'd you pick it?"

"It looks easy in all those classic movies!"

The two continued to walk together, enjoying the other's company as they pressed forward on the road to Dragon Bridge.

…

A few wolves got in the group's way, but other than that the journey was uneventful. True to Analyn's prediction, they reached a town right as the sun was setting on the horizon.

"We'll stop here." Analyn abruptly stopped before the group could set foot onto the bridge that led to the village.

"Why don't we stop in the town?"Liara asked. A warm bed sounded pretty good to her after a long day of walking.

"I'd prefer to spend as little time there as possible."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter anyways, the place doesn't have an inn. We'd have nowhere to go." She walked over to the side of the road. "I have some deer pelts on me. You can use those to lie on if you wish."

The next few minutes were spend setting up their "beds", and quickly they had a quaint camp ready, fireplace and all.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you teach us how to use our new weapons? We didn't get much of an opportunity to practice in Whiterun and seeing as how there will most likely be more foes ahead of us, it would be handy if we could make full use of our weapons." Shepard asked.

"Sure. Split up into groups based on whether you have a melee or ranged weapon."

They followed the Argonian's instructions, and soon Kaidan and Garrus stood on one side with Shepard, Tali, and Wrex on the other. Liara stood off to the side, feeling slightly awkward. She didn't really know what to do; back in Whiterun she had chosen not to take a weapon.

"Liara, you can sit and watch if you want." Analyn said, noticing her.

The Asari nodded and took a seat on one of the makeshift beds.

Analyn started with the bow users, Kaidan and Garrus. She got them to stand beside each other and showed them how to draw and nock an arrow. After a mere half an hour, they could hit a target at a decent range. Leaving them to practice on their own, the Argonian went over to Shepard, Tali, and Wrex and started to spar with them, teaching each of them individual techniques based on their weapons. Tali learned how to sneak and strike quickly and Wrex learned how to perform something called "power attacks" which, from what Liara could tell, consisted of yelling and swinging his battleaxe with exceptional force. However, when Analyn started to teach Shepard, it quickly became apparent that the Commander had a considerable amount of talent with a blade.

"You sure you've never used a sword before?" The Argonian inquired, out of breath from her efforts in education.

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Shepard replied.

"You're very talented. Although from what I understand, that talent is practically wasted considering you don't use these weapons where you're from."

She laughed, "I might have to start! This is actually really fun."

The group continued to practice their respective skills while Shepard and Analyn sparred.

Despite how quickly her comrades were picking up on this planet's combat, for some reason Liara couldn't help but be filled with dread. She knew that there was a deeper reason that they wound up on this planet, one besides "Whoops, I guess we're here now." That feeling made her uneasy.

For the first time since being here, she felt an acute sense of being watched.

* * *

 **Dun dun dunnnn. My foreshadowing a little too obvious? Please review and tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm gonna take a second to respond to** **bfg10k17's review where they raised the fair question of why aren't Tali and Garrus dying since they can't eat Amino foods. Just follow me for a second and suspend your disbelief. The reason our Dextro friends haven't died yet is because Garrus took some time back in Whiterun to explain to Analyn the difference between Amino acids and Dextro acids, and she figured out how to alter her Transmute spell to change the makeup of the food from Amino to Dextro. That's why they haven't starved. A bit far-fetched, I know, but I feel like it's the most plausible explanation.**

 **Now back to our regularly scheduled story! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was a slow start that morning. Almost the entire crew was sore from the extensive training the night before, and that led to more than a few complaints and Analyn tried to get them up and moving.

Finally, with everyone awake and ready, the group set out across the bridge.

The hour that Analyn had been dreading was now upon her. It was time to head through Dragon Bridge, where the headquarters of the Penitus Oculatus. Hell, it was the only outpost of the organization in all of Skryim.

Of course it's where she had to go. The whole thing about Dragon Bridge is the big-ass bridge that serves as the only way to cross the river Karth unless you wanted to go all the way around through Karthwasten. Analyn did not have a particular desire to go through Karthwasten. Also, it would add several days to their travel time, and she would, surprisingly, feel slightly guilty if she dragged Shepard and the others all over Skryim when there was a more direct and quicker way to go.

Man, the things she put up with for these people. Guilt could do crazy things to a person.

After what seemed like an eternity to the Argonian, the group reached the other side of the bridge and arrived in the town proper.

It took all of five seconds for the Penitus Oculatus guards to start glaring at her. Soon the townspeople started to look suspiciously at her as well. They had heard the rumors of course, but had no way of knowing if they had any stock in them or not.

Analyn intended to keep it that way.

However, the guards knew all too well what she had done.

…

The first thing Shepard noticed when they walked into Dragon Bridge was the fact that almost all of the strange looks were directed at Analyn instead of Garrus, Wrex, Tali, and Liara.

Oh, and also that three men in uniform immediately confronted them.

"What do you think you're doing here?" One said with obvious disgust in his voice.

"Passing through. You got an issue with that?" The Argonian replied coolly.

He gave a look to one of the men beside him, who gave a shrug. "Fine." As the group turned to leave, the first one leaned in until he was in Analyn's face. "But I'm keeping my eye on you, scum."

Analyn rolled her eyes.

Obviously enraged, the man grunted and turned to rejoin the others.

"Let's get going." The Argonian said once the uniformed men had retreated a distance.

She started to walk, and Shepard followed, prompting the others to do the same.

Although the town was larger than Rorikstead had been, it still took hardly any time to pass through, and soon they were once again on the road.

Now was as good a time as any to ask Analyn what that confrontation was about. Mystery was steadily accumulating around the Argonian, and Shepard thought that she owed them some answers.

"What was that about?" Shepard calmly asked.

"Nothing." Analyn replied.

"That was not nothing."

"Well…no it wasn't, but out here on the road isn't really the best time to talk about it."

Shepard stopped in her tracks. "I've extended my trust to you up to this point, Analyn. Now you're getting confronted by the guards in a town? I'm sorry, but I need more than an 'I'll talk about it later'."

"Fine, yeah, I guess you do deserve an explanation. It's a lot to ask for six strangers you just met to automatically trust you with no questions asked." She took a deep breath. "Let's take a break from walking."

The group gathered to the side of the road, creating a ring around the Argonian.

"Well, here goes nothing."

…

There was no other alternative if Analyn wanted to continue on with these people, and she was pretty sure they wouldn't last very long or make it back home on their own. It was now or never. The last time Analyn admitted to what she had done and told the truth, her closest friend of almost a year and a half completely rejected her.

Let's hope the people who had known her for less than a week reacted differently.

"So there's this organization called the Dark Brotherhood. Long story short, they're a group of extremely talented assassins."

"Don't tell me…" Liara softly exclaimed, putting her hands over her mouth.

"Don't tell you what?" Analyn asked her, sounding harsher than she had intended to. "Don't tell you that I was their Listener? That I was their salvation? That without me, they would have faded away into memory?"

"So? She's an assassin. That doesn't automatically make her evil." Tali was the first to respond.

"Tali has a point. There have been plenty of opportunities for Analyn to kill us, and instead she armed us. If her end goal was to kill us, don't you think that giving your targets weapons and training would be a bad idea?"

"She's killed people for money Garrus! I'm sorry but that doesn't inspire trust in me." Kaidan snapped.

"Before you cast your judgement, I need to tell you the entire truth." Analyn interrupted.

"There's more?" Liara exclaimed, sounding hurt.

"Uh, yeah." Analyn cleared her throat. "I, well, I killed the Emperor of Tamriel. After I had taken the oath to be in the Imperial Legion in his service."

"He must have been some sort of tyrant, right?" Shepard asked.

That question broke the Argonian's heart a little bit. "No, no he wasn't. He was kind. Even as I was in his room to kill him, he did not curse me or his misfortune. He accepted his fate. And I killed him in cold blood." She started to shake. "I broke the oath I swore and left a nation in turmoil leaderless. I had conflicting loyalties and I made a choice. I made a choice in that moment and I didn't know how much it would affect me, I didn't know how much I would regret it."

Silence.

Analyn knew that silence. It was the silence of judgement. The silence that she had faced when she told Faendal the same thing.

"You what?" Shepard uttered with a tense undertone.

"You heard what I said. I'm not proud of it, but what's done is done."

"If you're not proud of it, then why did you do it?"

"I got caught up in a darker part of myself. I got caught up in the bonds of fraternity with my fellow assassins. I got caught up in the desire for revenge."

"Revenge? I thought you swore allegiance to this man?"

"It wasn't vengeance against him. It was vengeance against the Penitus Oculatus. They attempted to wipe us out. I was petty; I didn't want them to get the satisfaction."

"That… well it's a lot to take in."

"No kidding. We just found out we've spent the last three days in the company of a traitorous murderer." Kaidan added.

"No, I understand. Take as much time as you need. However, I would recommend we keep on the road to the shrine of Meridia if we want to make it there in good time."

"I agree." Shepard nodded. "Does anyone have any objections to following Analyn to the Shrine?"

An uncertain chorus of agreement came from the group.

"This way." Analyn said in a somber tone as she turned towards Mount Kilkreath.

…

The shrine took Shepard's breath away. A beautiful white statue of what appeared to be an angel raising her arms to the sky with a brilliant beam of light shooting up sat atop a rocky outcropping. Apparently Analyn noticed her wonder and said, sounding amused, "If you think this is impressive, wait till you see the Shrine of Azura."

"What's the Shrine of Azura?"

"Imagine this but twice as big and on top of a snowy mountain."

"Wow."

Suddenly, a look of realization crossed the Argonian's face.

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"I forgot to find some undead on our way here."

"Oh right, we need that to communicate with her, right?"

"Yeah." Analyn took a beat to think. "Why don't while I go out and find some draugr you talk about what you want to do?"

"Sounds good."

"I'll be back in a bit." She turned to leave, but then said over her shoulder, "Whatever you decide, I just want to point out that I'm your best shot at returning. No one else on this entire continent has the connections or power I have. I saved your lives and accepted your story of coming from the stars. Now it's time for you to accept my story."

With that last sentiment, the Argonian walked off.

…

Three dark figures ran across the country side, looking as if they were frantically searching for something.

"If we do not find where they went soon, Master will replace us!" One screeched to the others.

"Don't you think we know that?" Another screeched back.

"Does Master even know where they are?" The third one asked.

"Of course he does!" The first one responded.

"Then why has he not told us?"

"It does not matter. We must find them for him. We have to."

…

The group from the Normandy stood in a circle at the foot of the Temple. Now was their time to decide whether or not to trust Analyn.

Shepard spoke first. "Personally, I say we trust her. Like Tali and Garrus said earlier, she's had plenty of opportunities to kill us if she wanted to. In fact, she's just made it easier for us to fight back if she tries."

"But she killed the leader of this country! For no reason other than her own spite!" Kaidan exclaimed.

"While I agree that that's not right, what other choices do we have?"

"We could wait for Joker to find us. He's gotta be looking, right?"

"But how long will that take? Who knows if he's even looking in the right system?" Garrus replied.

"Well, they probably have more than just the Normandy looking for us if the first human spectre is missing."

"How many ships can they spare while they're trying to hold off the Geth and Saren?"

"Enough to search through the systems efficiently."

"Do you want to take that chance? What if it takes months or even years for them to find us?"

"I have faith in the Alliance."

"So you'd rather sit, wait, and do nothing instead of actively try to get back into the fight?"

Kaidan opened his mouth to retort, then stopped. "You… You have a point."

Shepard took a secret sigh of relief. She was glad Kaidan was on board; his support was invaluable to her. "Anyone else have any objections?"

"I agree with Garrus." Tali said.

"If she tries anything, I'll just kill her." Wrex grunted.

"I…" Liara paused. "If you are willing to trust her, than I am as well." She finally said.

"Then we're decided."

…

The closest place to the Shrine of Meridia to find undead was Wolfskull Cave. Analyn had already cleared the place out a few times, but necromancers always returned to take residence there. Luckily none had tried to resurrect Potema again after the first attempt was stopped.

She came back to the shrine, some assorted draugr limbs slung over her shoulder. Now was the moment when she would find out if these people would accept her. Deep down, she hoped they would. Even in just three days, she'd gotten used to the chatting and to the companionship. Sliding what would soon become the offering to Meridia to the ground, she said, "You guys decided yet?"

"Yes, we have."

"And?"

"We trust you."

A wave of emotion slammed Analyn, but she kept it beneath the surface. "I'm glad. I'd hate to see such people gone to waste." She said, sliding smarminess into her voice to cover the relief.

Shepard shook her head, bemused. "You have so little faith."

"You would too after you saw Garrus with that bow." Analyn quipped back.

"Hey! I was fine with that bow!" The Turian retorted, sounding defensive.

"Uh-huh."

"Pretty sure a Hanar could've used a bow better." Shepard smirked good-naturedly.

"Fine. Next time I save your ass with my bow skills you'll eat your words."

Suddenly, a beautiful yet stern voice interrupted their banter. "Ah, I see my champion has returned to me with a gift."

The group looked bewildered. Analyn was glad that this was only Meridia and not someone like Vaermina or Molag Bal. "Yes, Meridia. However, I also have a request."

"Come to my Beacon. I will hear your case there."

"Well, you heard the Daedra. Let's go up to the Beacon."

"That was Meridia?!" Liara exclaimed.

"No, it was my mother." Analyn responded, saturating her voice with sarcasm.

Liara did not look amused.

Soon, the group stood in front of the magnificent statue and the beam of light in front of it.

"Is that the beacon?" Wrex asked. "It seems a little small."

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY BEACON, MORTAL." Meridia's voice boomed around them.

"Yeah, let's not insult the god-like being." Garrus said.

Analyn set down the draugr parts at the feet of the statue. Light enveloped the group and they started to float up into the air, silencing any further comments. Everyone's eyes grew wide, panicked looks were shot around, and Liara shakily asked, "Is this normal?"

"Yeah, pretty much." The Argonian had to admit, their reactions were pretty entertaining. "We'll be at the top in a bit. Not much longer to go. I thought you guys were from the stars? Why are you so scared of flying?"

"Because we weren't exactly expecting to be flung up into the air out of nowhere." Kaidan replied.

"Now, my champion, what do you have to ask of me?" Meridia's voice interrupted their conversation as the group's ascent was slowed.

"Does your beacon reach the stars?"

"Although it reaches far into the skies, it does not touch the heavens."

The disappointment of the group was audible.

"Well, is there some way we could magnify the beam?"

"While I do not entirely endorse it, there may be a way."

"What is it?"

"I only tell you since you are my Champion, and I only tell you so that my light may spread. Deep in the Dwemer ruin Vuldorahl there is a device which could be used to magnify the strength of my beacon."

"That sounds like exactly what we need. What's wrong with that?"

"While they are not as vile as those who raise the dead, I do not completely trust the Dwemer."

"I don't care, this beacon is our best hope."

"Fine. I have told you where to find the Lumia. Go, and bring it back here so that my truth may reach even greater numbers." With that last sentiment, the group was lowered back to solid ground.

As soon as they all had regained their footing, Analyn spoke. "I hate to break you all up, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to take all of you to a Dwemer ruin. There can be all kinds of traps and pitfalls, and it would be too dangerous to bring a large group."

"How many do you think we can safely bring?" Shepard asked.

"Probably four people, including myself."

Shepard nodded.

"Why don't we set up camp for the night while you figure out who to bring? We'll set out for Vuldorahl tomorrow morning. Those who don't come can stay here at the Shrine, maybe even run some errands for the Lady of Infinite Energies herself."

"That sounds exciting." Garrus said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, errands for a Daedric Prince tend to be a bit more exciting than those of your average mortal."

"If you say so."

…

Shepard sat on the cold steps to the temple, looking down at the camp. Kaidan and Garrus were talking by the fire, Tali was tinkering with her environmental suit, Liara was asleep in a makeshift bed, and Wrex was sharpening his battleaxe (which he had grown quite an affection for over the past few days). Analyn had gone up to the top of the shrine, saying something about planning the trip. The Commander was alone, and had to choose two others to bring on the journey. She knew that whoever she didn't choose would be disappointed; it wasn't every day you got to adventure in a fantastical world you knew nothing about. However, it was her decision to make and she knew the others would respect it.

Tali was definitely coming. The Quarian had said that she would love to go to a Dwemer ruin when Analyn first mentioned them, and Shepard thought that if they really had strange technology, she would be a good asset.

By that logic, Liara would be the next choice. She had experience in ancient technology, and something told Shepard that the Asari would love to see the ruins. While Wrex would be good choice as well since he would provide immense combat support, the Krogan would probably be too risky to bring to what sounded like a delicate environment.

Her decision made, she stood and started down towards the camp. Something told her she would need a good night's sleep for the mission ahead.

…

By the time Analyn finished charting the route for the trip to Vuldorahl, midnight had come and went. Having nothing better to do, and not wanting to sit in the cold of the northern Skyrim night any longer, she decided that some sleep couldn't hurt.

Down at the camp, she propped herself up against a nearby tree and closed her eyes. Almost instantly she was asleep.

Alas, instead of being the peaceful rest the Argonian was hoping for, she found herself in a familiar realm. A black, intricately wrought grate was beneath her feet and endless stacks of books soared into the green miasma of a sky. The scene was perfectly complemented by the mass of tentacles and eyes gazing down at her.

"What do you want, Hermaeus Mora? Why have you brought my consciousness here?"

"Ah, my Champion, I have a request for you." The Daedra's unnerving voice emanated from the wretched abyss.

"Yeah, I figured that when I found myself here. What is it?"

"Bring me your newfound companions. They possess knowledge that no one on this puny world could possibly have. I wish to expand my collection of information to beyond the walls of this planet."

"Couldn't you just go out into the galaxy and find someone else? You are a Daedric Prince, right? What's stopping you from venturing out to the stars?"

The grotesque figure made an agitated noise. "The Daedra and the Aedra are bound intrinsically to Nirn. We can neither venture our bodies nor our minds outside of the range of this world."

"Aren't you on another plane of existence?"

"That changes nothing! We are still bound to this place, the force spans across each Daedra's realm. I need you to bring them to me, I need to know the secrets and wonders they know; I will reward you greatly for it."

"What could you possibly have that I would want? I am content with my life." The Argonian was definitely skeptical.

"Admit it, you wish to explore the stars for yourself. You want to see the wonders of the galaxy almost as much as I wish to understand them. I could provide you a way to get there. I could send you on the greatest adventure of your life."

"I'm fine where I am, thank you very much."

"Mortal, what really is there left for you to do here? You've already defeated the World-Eater, you've defeated the only mortal who could possibly rival your power, and you've completed endless menial tasks such as rising to the top of almost every organization this province has to offer. Your existence which was once great and influential is now going to be reduced to fighting menial foes and running errands. That is not who you are. That is not who you could be."

Analyn paused before responding, "What would happen to them, if I, hypothetically, did bring them to you?"

"I would take their knowledge."

"Like you did from Storn?"

"That is the only way."

"I'm sorry, but I refuse to kill these people who trust me just to increase my own glory."

"You had no fault killing for Boethia."

"That was different."

"Was it? If you shall not help me, then I will find another."

The world around Analyn started to fade into a white light.

Hermaeus Mora's voice filled her mind as she woke up, "Be careful to go against my wishes so often, else you shall end as Miraak did."

The Argonian's eyes flew open and her scales felt cold from more than the night air.

* * *

 **Finally, some Daedric Princes are getting into the story! Please review and tell me what you think! I appreciate it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Whooo, man, it took me a while to get this one out. Sorry about that! I actually already have the next three chapters already written, so there won't be as long of a wait as there was for this one.**

 **To respond to both of Annoy Mouse's reviews: Yeah, the "By the Eight" thing was an editing error on my part, sorry about that! You're completely right. As for your other review, I think I covered it in the A/N on the previous chapter.**

 **Now back to our not-so-regularly scheduled story! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I've decided to bring Tali and Liara alongside Analyn and myself to the Dwemer ruin," Shepard said, her crew assembled before her in the center of camp.

"Aw, come on." And there was Wrex's expected reaction.

"I need you to stay here and guard the shrine."

"But that's boring! What the hell is gonna happen here?" Yeah, the Krogan was definitely steamed.

Shepard drew a blank and looked at Analyn for support.

"Uh, well… Necromancers! Yeah, necromancers! They come here a lot to try to corrupt the Lady's shrine. You need to fight them off."

"They sound pathetic."

"But they're not! They can summon the dead! And… and… Summon the dead!"

"Bah, fine." The Krogan walked off to go sulk and sharpen his blade, mumbling under his breath, "If they're dead, then they weren't very good warriors." At least he respected the Commander's authority, to some extent.

"So we just wait here for you to get back?" Kaidan asked, sounding worried. "Will we have any way to communicate with you?"

"Uh no, not unless you want to try to find a courier every time we near a town or city." Analyn scoffed.

"Is that the only way to relay a message?" Shepard asked.

"Pretty much. Unless any of you happen to be telepathic, couriers or carriages are the only way. Even then, it would be nigh impossible to get any letter in or out of a Dwemer ruin."

"Fair enough." Shepard said. She had not figured in the lack of communication. "We'll send a message ahead on our way back so that you will be ready for our return. Other than that, I guess waiting is your only option."

Neither Kaidan nor Garrus looked pleased with that revelation.

"You should probably say your goodbyes. There's a long road ahead of us and the days aren't getting any longer last time I checked." Analyn said. She seemed unusually tense.

Brief, friendly farewells were given, and soon it seemed like everyone was ready to go.

That's when Kaidan came up to her. "Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?"

"Of course." Shepard replied, slightly confused. They walked off a little ways until they were fairly separated from the rest of the group by the frost-covered trees.

"Please promise me that you'll be careful." He said, looking into her eyes. "I-I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you." Clearing his throat, he continued, "I don't know what any of the crew would do without you."

A smile crept over the Commander's face at his concern. Normally, people worrying over her just annoyed her, but with Kaidan, she appreciated it. "I'll come back. I promise."

"Thanks." He was smiling now, too.

A silence fell between them, but it wasn't the uncomfortable kind. It was the kind where you don't feel like you need to fill it with meaningless pleasantries. It was the kind where simply the company of another human was enough. It was the kind that said more than words could. The kind that made you realize just how close you were to the other. The kind where you slowly started to close your eyes and move even closer.

"Hey, if you spend any more time back there, I'm going to assume the worst."

Damn that Argonian.

"Shut up." Shepard called back, and shot an apologetic look at Kaidan. He shrugged awkwardly and offered his hand for the Commander to shake. She took him up on it, and they started back to the group.

"Everyone ready?" Analyn said when they had rejoined.

Shepard, Tali, and Liara all nodded in response.

"Then let's get going." The Argonian turned and started walking down the road that had lead them to the shrine. "Vuldorahl is just southeast of Dawnstar, the capital of The Pale in the north. On the way, we'll stop in Morthal, which is another capital city, then on to Dawnstar, and finally to the ruin."

"How long do you think the trip will take?" Liara asked.

"Around four to five days, depending on how often we stop. Six at the absolute most. Once we get past Morthal, the terrain and weather will be against us, so that'll definitely slow us down."

"What sort of terrain?" Tali followed up.

"Icy. Cold. Miserable." The Argonian said the last word with a chuckle. "Skyrim can be a very unforgiving place. You think it's cold where we are now, just wait till we reach The Pale."

By this point, Dragon Bridge was visible down the road. Analyn halted, and said "Can you all swim?"

"Swim? Like in water?" Tali sounded taken aback.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't want to go back through that town, and it'd be easier to just find a low shore and swim across the river."

"I don't think I can do that."

"Me neither." Liara added.

"That's ok. We'll just keep our heads down." Analyn continued to walk.

"I take it you're a good swimmer then? That river did not look particularly lazy."

"Argonians are naturals at it; we can even breathe underwater. Our homeland is basically a giant swamp, so it's a necessity."

Shepard realized that she knew nothing about Analyn's home. In fact, she didn't really know much about any of this place. Maybe she'd ask the Argonian more about it later.

They had reached the edge of town, and Analyn took a deep breath. "Move fast, don't make eye contact, and stay behind me."

Practically sprinting through the town, they managed to avoid any confrontations and found themselves on the other side of the bridge.

"Oh thank the Divines." Shepard heard Analyn whisper under her breath.

"That went well." Liara said brightly.

"We'll keep going for a ways, then set up camp. Unless you want to walk through the night, I doubt we'll make it to Morthal until tomorrow."

…

Three dark figures stood at an altar before a massive, snow-covered statue.

"Master! We have found them! They have gone to your brother, Meridia!" One cried, standing out before the others.

"WHAT?!" An enraged voice yelled back.

"I-I thought you would be pleased, Master!"

"PLEASED THAT THEY'RE IN THE CARE OF MY FOOLHEARTY BROTHER?"

"W-well, pleased th-that we found them!"

The Daedra could be heard to sigh and his tone changed from outright anger to a more annoyed timbre, "Fine, fine, you have a point. You did find them. And now you are going to bring them to me before Meridia converts them to his ridiculous cause or Mora gets his tentacles on them."

"Yes Master!" All three figures echoed, vanishing into the night.

…

"Wolves!" Tali yelled from the far side of their makeshift camp.

Analyn immediately drew her sword and blasted a fireball at one of the beasts. It went flying, and the other two were quickly dispatched by Tali's daggers and Liara's biotics. Shepard felt a glow of pride for her crew and how quickly they had adjusted to this new environment.

"Damn things, if we're going to get attacked by something, at least let it be a spriggan or a giant or something that will actually be a fun fight." Analyn growled.

Shepard shot her a look.

"I mean I hope we don't get attacked by anything at all." Analyn tried her best to give an innocent smile.

"Mmhm. Sure." Shepard said, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Come on, don't tell me these stupid wolves don't get on your nerves!"

"They get on my nerves because it turns a hike through an unexplored land into a life or death situation."

"But they're pussies. They won't actually kill you."

"You'll forgive me if I'm not used to dealing with wolves on a daily basis."

"Try hourly."

Shepard shook her head and sat by the fire. Taking a seat next to her, Analyn lazily blew flames from her hand into the blaze.

"I'm going to go meditate, I'll be back in a bit." Liara said.

"Don't go too far." Shepard replied.

The Asari nodded, then walked off.

Tali had already gone off to finish setting up the last bedroll, which the wolves had previously interrupted.

"Do you think this is all going to work?" Shepard asked out of nowhere after a few moments of silence had passed.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think that this Lumis thing will help us get back to our ship? Do you think we'll be able to get off this planet?"

"Yes, I do." She turned to look up at the stars above. "I've done a lot of incredible feats in my time here, ranging from illegal to legal and from immoral to moral. I've faced down gods and armies. I've found secrets hidden for centuries and I've been to Oblivion and back, literally. So trust me when I say that I can do this. I will get you back to your ship no matter what it takes. You have my word."

"I do trust you, and you have my eternal gratitude."

The Argonian got a strangely rueful smile on her face. "You know, you're probably one of the people who knows the most about me, and I've only known you for around a week. And I hardly know anything about you. What does that say about how pathetic I am? I just clung onto the nearest sentient thing that listened. I may be one of the greatest warriors Tamriel has ever known, but I'm so…"

"I know what you mean."

"Do you?"

"I faked my age to join the military and I've stuck with it ever since. I've never really had time for any personal relationships jumping from posting to posting, and even when I did have the chance to, I mostly kept to myself. I knew that the men and women beside me could die the next day, so I didn't see the point in growing attached. All of your passions and your possible conversations and your emotions just build and build inside you when you live like that. Keeping your personality locked up. You can't help but spill it all out to the first person who you feel like you could have a real connection with."

"But you seem really close with the people you came here with."

The ginger smiled. "My time aboard the Normandy is really the first time I've ever really formed bonds with the people I served beside. While I still have to act the part of leader, I can still reveal parts of myself to them. I can still forge friendships. I don't have to bottle it all up anymore."

"Aren't you worried about them dying?"

"Every goddamn day."

"Do you think we are friends?"

"Yes, I think we are."

Analyn smiled again, but this time it was a genuine one. "I'm glad."

"Me too."

…

Liara had come back to camp without incident, and after a good night's rest, they packed up and continued east towards Morthal.

"Now, we're starting to enter into the area where we'll be running across frostbite spiders, so just be ready. They have more of a bite then the wolves that we're used to do." Analyn warned as she led them down the road. She wasn't sure how these foreigners would react to their poison, and she would rather avoid finding out.

"Spiders? Aren't those small?" Liara asked.

"Not this kind. Frostbites can range from the size of a dog to the size of a small house, although the most common is about as big as a child."

"That does not sound pleasant at all."

"They really aren't."

"Anything else we should be on the lookout for?" Tali followed.

"Snow bears and ice wolves when we get farther north, but for now just the usual."

"Giants, wolves, and normal bears?"

"You got it."

That's when a massive roar shook the ground beneath them and a massive shadow glided over.

"Analyn, what the hell is that?" Shepard said, drawing her blade. Tali followed suit, and Liara readied her biotics.

"Dragon."

"You didn't mention those." Tali replied, sounding a little panicked.

"Well I forgot."

Showtime.

Luckily, it appeared to be a plain dragon, and not one of the more deadly varieties. She pulled her Daedric sword from its sheath and conjured a Flame Atronach. Then came Dragonrend. As she unleashed the words from her throat, she could feel the pain shooting throughout her body and the hate fill her soul. The Argonian hated using that shout, and she only used it in emergencies; however, she did not want to take a chance with Shepard and the others. It seemed apparent that they were not used to fighting dragons, and so she needed to dispatch this dragon quickly in order to prevent any sort of unfortunate casualty.

The dragon collapsed to the earth, and immediately Analyn was upon it, slashing and blasting it with Destruction magic alongside the summoned Daedra. By fighting in close-quarters with it, she hoped to avoid it using its breath. That was always how the most civilian damage was caused.

That's when she noticed Shepard beside her, slashing at the beast's wing.

"GET AWAY!" Analyn screamed desperately, but it was too late. It thrashed its wing out and sent Shepard flying.

Analyn resumed her attacks with a renewed vigor and rage. If she was going to save the commander, she had to hurry.

With one final slash directly between the dragon's eyes, it fell. The Dragonborn stood panting, victorious, as the dragon's soul flowed into her, sending waves of relief through her body. It was euphoric, the feeling of absorbing a dragon soul. Analyn couldn't help but admit that she also enjoyed the looks of wonder she got from bystanders when they saw she was Dragonborn.

Alas, there was no time to wallow in her glory, as the memory of Shepard flying into a tree jolted her back to her senses. She ran over to approximately the direction she had been flung in, and saw Liara and Tali already crouched next to a form lying on the ground.

"She's… She's really hurt." Liara said, tears starting to well in her eyes.

"Do we have any-" Tali started, but was interrupted by Analyn. "Prop her up. Against that tree will suffice."

Liara complied, and Analyn pulled a small red bottle from her bag. She really hoped that the commander wasn't too far gone. Carefully, she pulled out the stopper and tipped it into Shepard's mouth.

"What are you-" The Asari stopped as her eyes widened. Shepard's wounds were healing right before their eyes. The red gashes along her body soon disappeared as new skin formed. Soon, just scar tissue was left, and even that faded after a few moments.

"Can you hear my voice?" Analyn asked calmly and clearly.

Slowly, Shepard's eyes opened. "Yeah, I can." Her voice sounded raspy, like her throat was full of phlegm.

"Good, good. I recommend staying still for a little bit. Healing potions work fast, but if you're not used to them, it can take a while to get used to the lingering aches."

"Is that what that was? A healing potion?" Tali said from somewhere behind Analyn.

"Yes, it was. My own brew, in fact. Quite potent. You couldn't get a better one anywhere in Skyrim."

"Well, we're lucky you were here then."

"Is that what that taste in my mouth is?" Shepard asked, trying to stand.

Analyn helped her, and replied "Yup. I try to make it more palatable than the standard stuff."

"It tastes like… bread."

"Yeah, I try to bring out the wheat more than the blue mountain flower. You're lucky I don't use ash hopper jelly or charred skeever hide."

"That was… amazing." Liara breathed.

"Alchemy is also part of my skill set. Probably one of the best in Skyrim, although I wouldn't say Tamriel. There are some Elvish alchemists to the south that are just ridiculous with their talent. They've had lifetimes to study-"

"Well you're the best alchemist we know."

"I'm the only alchemist you know." Analyn turned to Shepard. "Do you feel like you can walk?"

She tried, and managed a step, but not without an audible wince.

"Here, let me use some Restoration magic." Analyn's left hand started glowing with a "heal other" spell which she started to cast on Shepard. "Potions are good in a pinch, but they cause quite a shock to the system. Restoration magic is much more gradual, but more soothing as well."

"That does feel better."

"Do you feel like you can keep going?"

Shepard took a deep breath. "Yes, I think so. That spell worked wonders."

"No problem. That dragon was an unexpected road block, but if we get started now, I believe we can make it to Morthal before nightfall."

"Then let's get going."

Slowly but surely, the group started back on the road towards Morthal.

* * *

 **I always wondered what the potions in Skyrim tasted like. I kind of imagine the Stamina potions tasting like grass and the Magika potions tasting like sour milk (I'm not really sure why, that's just what came to mind), and, of course, warm bread for a Healing potion.**

 **As always, please review and tell me what you think! I appreciate it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Boom! New chapter in less than 24 hours. I hope you enjoy!**

 **BTW, I loved seeing the comments saying what people thought all the potions tasted like, it really is fascinating seeing everyone's different descriptions!**

* * *

Shepard could smell Morthal before she saw it. The area surrounding the city smelled almost exactly like the swamps back on Earth, except mixed with the musk of a not very sanitary culture, which only made it better.

"Are you, I mean, do they-" Liara started to ask, but Analyn answered the question before she could finish it.

"No, I'm not a wanted woman here. They don't know anything about what happened."

They crossed the threshold into the city, and Analyn proceeded to guide them to the local inn.

After a long conversation with the innkeeper, Analyn turned back to the group with a frustrated look on her face. "They don't have any available rooms. Apparently a group of Imperial soldiers already booked them all."

"Could we camp out again?" Tali asked.

"Swamps do not provide for very pleasant camping, so that's a no."

"Do you know anyone in town we could shack up with?"

"Not really. I mean, I'm a thane, so theoretically I could force anyone to have us over for the night, but I'd rather not do that."

"How about-"

"Analyn! Fancy seeing you here!" A loud, rough voice called from the entrance to the inn.

The Argonian looked surprised, and all four turned to face the man who had addressed her.

Recognition spread over her face, and she responded with a hearty "Hadvar! My old friend, how are you doing?"

"Good, good. I'm not one for life on the road though."

"Hah! Grown soft from the warm beds of the capital, huh?"

"Hardly! Sometimes I think the ground is softer than the beds they have there."

"Can't argue with you there. I take it you and your men are the ones taking up all the room in the inn, then?"

"Yeah, that's us. You need a room, I assume?"

"No, I just enjoy renting out the all the rooms and watching other travelers suffer."

"Your tongue is still sharp as ever, I see." Hadvar turned to the collection of men behind him, all wearing similar attire. Each was wearing red and brown leather, some with helmets and some without. Shepard assumed that these were the Imperial soldiers Analyn had mentioned.

"Boys, we're all going to have to crowd into one room tonight."

His announcement was met with more than a little griping.

"Now, now. Analyn is a good friend of mine, defeated the ancient dragon Alduin, saving Skyrim from certain ruin, and let us not forget that she's also a Legate in the Legion. It would do us all some good to remember all that she has done for us."

That quieted them down very quickly.

"I hate to be a burden, but I thank you for your kindness and generosity." Analyn spoke now, walking to stand beside Hadvar. "To make it up, ale for everyone, on me."

Now that announcement was met with a considerable amount of cheering.

Hadvar clapped her on the back. He made no movement to remove his hand from the Argonian's shoulders, which Shepard noted. "Ah, that sounds wonderful! What do you say we catch up over those drinks?"

"Sorry, Hadvar, but I'm going to have to pass on that. I'm escorting these historians to a Dwemer ruin in The Pale and I need to go over some things with them before we sleep."

He looked disappointed for a brief moment, but quickly covered it with another smile "No problem, I understand you're busy. Another time then?"

"Of course!" She waited a moment before adding, "You and your men don't happen to be headed that direction, do you?"

"No, I'm afraid not. We're actually on our way back to Solitude from a mission in the Rift."

"Oh well, it was worth an ask. I hate that we keep missing each other like this."

"Me too."

With that, Hadvar rejoined his now slightly tipsy men and Analyn rejoined Shepard and her crew.

"Let's go, the room is over here." Analyn started walking towards a door on her left. "The road gets more treacherous from here on out, and I'd like to chart out the plan tonight."

…

Tali, Liara, Shepard, and Analyn all sat in a circle around a map that the latter had set out for them. The next hour was spent describing the change in geography, how to deal with the new beasts that they might run into, and the timeline for how long it would all take.

"So three days from now, we'll be in Vuldorahl?" Liara clarified.

"If all goes well, then yes."

"We can send a message back to the others in Dawnstar, right?" Shepard added.

"More than likely. Worse comes to worse and there aren't any couriers in town, I could tell the Steward to keep an eye out for the next one and she'd pass the message on to him." The Argonian paused, waiting for anymore inquiries. When it was apparent that there weren't any, she said, "We should get some rest. It's a long trip tomorrow."

Analyn stayed, watching from a corner until she was sure they were all asleep. Unlike herself, they actually needed rest. Sighing, she shifted her weight off the wall she had been leaning against and walked out into the main room of the inn. Unsurprisingly, it was barren, the fire pit in the center smoking faintly. Leaving gold on the counter, she grabbed a few bottles of ale and went outside to sit on the porch.

She started when she heard someone else moving around inside the inn. Who else would be up at this hour? Slowly, she drew her sword and moved into a crouching position.

The figure opened the door and Analyn leaped at him with a hiss, her cold, black blade pressed up against his throat.

"Woah, Analyn, you still got your reflexes, huh?"

Hadvar.

She relaxed, and sheathed her weapon. "Sorry. Wasn't sure who it was."

"Who else would be in the inn right now besides my men and your… group." He faltered in his speaking, apparently not sure what to call the ragtag, peculiar ensemble the Argonian had for traveling companions.

"Could've been a thief."

"That made it in without you noticing? I doubt that."

Analyn sat back where she had been previously, and Hadvar joined her.

"Why are you up so late? I would've thought you and the men needed to leave pretty early." Analyn asked after a swig from one of the bottles she had brought out.

"Yeah, we do." He glanced at one of the ales and Shepard made a gesture indicating that he was welcome to it. Opening it, he continued, "but I know that you never sleep well. I figured you'd be up, and I was right."

She chuckled. "You know me so well."

They sat in silence for a few moments, simply enjoying the other's company. Analyn couldn't help but be pleased. After the whole ordeal with Faendal, Hadvar was probably the person closest to her, and they hadn't seen each other in a while. It was nice to spend time together.

"So, what's the deal with those people with you?" He asked, shattering the stillness of the cold, northern night.

"I told you, I-"

Hadvar gave her a withering look. "You may be a master at speechcraft, but your lies don't get past me."

She knew this question was going to come eventually. Even if people didn't voice it aloud, they said it with their strange-sometimes hostile-looks. She sighed. "It's a crazy story, and I know you probably won't believe me, so I'll just give you the short and sweet version. They've gotten separated from their people, and they need to get back as soon as possible in order to prevent a catastrophe. I'm simply aiding them on their mission."

"Preventing catastrophes? You don't ever take a break, do you?"

"Hey, I'm not actively involved this time. You should be proud."

He laughed. It was rough, and sounded like it hadn't been used very often. "I am, I am!" he paused before continuing. "I've never seen people like them before. That blue one… where on Nirn is she from? The one covered in armor is strange too, I've never seen a set like that before."

"That's the unbelievable part." Analyn took a deep breath. Might as well tell the truth. "They're not from Nirn, Hadvar. They're from the stars, from beyond our world, beyond Oblivion or the heavens."

He stared at her for a long while.

Finally, he spoke. "I didn't know you could get drunk, Analyn. That's quite the fantasy you've created, but you know you can tell me the truth."

"That is the truth!" It came out a bit more harshly than she intended.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." The soldier scratched his chin in thought, then added, "how do you know you can trust them? Did they tell you that story? I trust your judgement, hardly anything gets past you, but is it at all possible that they're just pulling your leg to get help?"

Of course, the thought had crossed Analyn's mind, but she had never seriously considered it. "You know how there are some people who you just trust automatically, and you're not quite sure why? You believe in them as soon as you meet them? Shepard is one of those people. I trust what she told me, and even if they were lying, I would still help them. It's not like doing so is harming anyone else."

"Ok, I know you well enough to know that if you trust someone, it's probably well-placed."

"Thanks for the concern, though."

Hadvar smiled. "Just trying to keep you out of any unnecessary trouble."

They sat like that for a long while: catching up, laughing, and sharing drinks.

Analyn couldn't wipe the grin from her face, and whenever Hadvar mentioned it, she just responded with "This has been long overdue."

…

"There! There it is again! Don't tell me you didn't see that!" Garrus shouted from his perch atop the monument.

"I didn't see it." Kaidan responded, arms crossed. Garrus had been going on like this for the past hour, saying he saw "some sort of shadow" running around in the woods around them. At the mention of something interesting, Wrex took off in an attempt to kill it. He hadn't gotten back yet, and despite his conviction that it was just a wolf or some ruffians (they had seen plenty of those over the past few days) a sense of dread managed to worm its way into his stomach. He'd already asked the Turian multiple times if it was just a trick of the light or his mind playing games with him, but every time he got the same response.

"I swear there is something out there."

His conviction made Kaidan believe that maybe there really was something. It was not like the Turian to let boredom or tricks get the better of him.

Shaking his head, he walked up to where Garrus was standing, and scanned the area. After about ten minutes of the same old monotonous, snowy landscape, he started to ask another question when he saw something.

A dark figure, simply a blur, right at the perimeter of their camp.

"What the-"

"Hah! You saw it that time! I told you so!"

"What do we do?"

"I don't know, it never stays still and always appears in a different spot."

"Where's Wrex?"

"I don't know, I saw him head off, but the trees severely limit my line of sight."

"Do you think-" Again, the lieutenant was interrupted. Garrus had grabbed him and slammed him down to the icy stone of where they had been standing. They laid there, Garrus staring intently at their camp.

"Don't move." He said finally, in a hushed tone. "It's there."

"It's staying put?"

"Yeah. Ugh, I liked the look of it more when it was a blur."

"What do you mean?"

"It's… well, just look for yourself."

Slowly, Kaidan raised his head and managed to see over the accumulated frost into the camp. Three figures stood in the center, all horned and beastly. They looked like the archaic depictions of demons from Earth culture.

They also resembled Analyn's armor.

"Should we engage?" Garrus asked from beside him.

Wrex wasn't here, and he was their main source of brute strength, but God knew when he would get back. The creatures would find them eventually, so if they wanted to keep the element of surprise, it was now or never. "Yes. We get into hidden positions up here, and fire at them, remaining hidden for as long as possible. There's no telling what they can do, so try to maintain a safe distance."

Garrus gave a sharp nod, and slowly crept to a good sniping position. Kaidan followed suit.

In one fluid motion, they nocked arrows and took aim.

* * *

 **Time for some excitement! Please review and tell me what you think! I appreciate it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ooo, I'm really excited for where this story is going. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!**

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After Analyn had given her goodbyes to Hadvar, the two groups set out in opposite directions. Shepard noticed after about an hour on the road that their Argonian guide seemed more cheery than usual. She was lost in her thoughts, trying to figure out what had happened to cause such a change in Analyn's attitude, when she slowly became aware that someone was talking to them.

"… you milk-drinker!" A tall, green creature stood in front of them on the road covered head to toe in swampy green armor. His voice was garbled, and actually sounded somewhat like a Krogan's. Shepard assumed it was one of the orcs Analyn had mentioned lived here.

"What did you just say to me?" the Argonian snarled back at him.

"You heard me, scale-skin."

"You better take that back. Be a pity to dirty my blade. I just finished cleaning it."

"I'd like to see you try!" In a flash he had drawn an oddly formed sword and shield made from the same material as his armor. Analyn, too drew her blade, but instead of using it, she let loose a shout.

 _YOL TOOR SHUL_

A blaze of fire erupted from her lips with the words and blasted the attacker to the ground.

One strike from the Argonian's sword was all it took to finish him.

"How do you do that?!" Liara exclaimed, echoing the question that sat on everyone's minds.

"It's called a Thu'um. Basically, I use the power of my Voice in combination with certain words to channel forces. In that case, it was fire. Back when we fought the elves, it was force."

"Can everyone here do that?" Tali followed up, sounding slightly alarmed.

"Not really. Normally it takes years of training to be able to harness the power of the voice. The only reason I can do it automatically is because I'm Dragonborn."

Apparently seeing the question forming on their lips before they actually vocalized anything, Analyn explained what that meant to them. She had already explained it all to Shepard back in Whiterun, but she went into slightly more detail now, describing the ancient myths relating to it and what it meant in society.

"Now that you've learned the basics of Skyrim lore, why don't we keep going? I'd like to find a less damp place to camp for the night, which means we'll need to make more progress northwards."

All nodded, and they started up their journey again.

…

As soon as the first arrow dug its way deep into the shoulder of the farthest creature from where Kaidan and Garrus stood, a horrendous screech echoed across the woods. All three summoned some kinds of magic into their hands, and frantically started searching for their assailants.

The human and the Turian continued to rain ammo down on them focusing on the first one Kaidan had shot, and managed to take it down. That's when the remaining two finally figured out where the onslaught was coming from. One raised its hand and blasted some kind of purple energy at the ground. Instantaneously, a fiery specter formed on the spot. They charged up the steps to where Kaidan and Garrus were, arrows now burning up with blasts from the specter.

The two didn't stand a chance.

Once the creatures had gotten into close range, their bows lost a significant amount of effectiveness, and the fireballs from whatever thing they had summoned did not make things any easier.

Kaidan's armor seemed to protect him from the blasts from their hands, but the force still tossed him around like a ragdoll, and the heat from the flames of the summoned beast started to burn his exposed flesh.

There was nothing to be done at this point. They had been completely overpowered once they lost the edge they had through surprise.

Lying against the frozen ground preparing to die, Kaidan was consumed with guilt. He had failed the Normandy. He had failed the universe.

He had failed Shepard.

Closing his eyes, he summoned all his strength to try and push up against his attacker, who had a single, clawed foot on his chest, pressing him against the ground. It had no effect, and it seemed like the creature didn't even notice.

After a look shared between the two creatures, they bound the two with rough ropes instead of running them through with the fearsome daggers in their belts, as Kaidan had assumed they would.

They didn't seem like the type to take prisoners.

"We have them! We caught them! Master will be so pleased!" One exclaimed to the other.

"Yes, well we have to get them to him first."

"Blech, you're right. They're so squishy, it was hard not to kill them."

Kaidan heard Garrus mumble, "Great. Just great."

He couldn't help but agree. Maybe they had taken them hostage in order to charge a ransom? Or maybe…

Suddenly, the creatures turned their attention back to the pair on the ground and roughly dragged them to their feet.

With a malicious grin, one spoke. "You are coming with us, you understand? Master has need of you, and I recommend you cooperate. If you do not, we will make things very unpleasant for you." The other nodded in agreement. In a somewhat clunky movement, the creature holding Kaidan took out his knife, flipped it around, and bashed the Lieutenant's head with the hilt. The other did the same to Garrus.

Darkness swarmed over Kaidan's vision, casting away his consciousness.

…

After Analyn's little run down of Skyrim mythos, Liara had actually become quite interested in it. She was constantly asking questions as they made their way towards Dawnstar. To Shepard's surprise, Analyn happily answered them, but occasionally stopped to shoot at something in the woods on the sides of the road with a bow that seemed to match the sword she had.

"Sorry, saw some spiders." Was always her response. Shepard started to wonder if she was just getting bored.

Soon enough, the sun was well on its way down, and Analyn recommended they start setting up for the night. The day-long conversation about this province they found themselves in was actually quite fascinating. Shepard wasn't one much for history, but it was interesting enough to keep her attention. After exploring so many "fantastical" planets throughout her career in the military, she had seen hundreds of amazing worlds, and at this point nothing really fazed her. This place, on the other hand, was different. It was so similar to her own home world, yet so foreign and unknown at the same time. It was also hard not to be intrigued since Shepard knew it would be some time before she could return to her ship. If she was going to be staying here so long, she might as well get acquainted with the place.

Once everything was ready, the squad found themselves all sitting around the small fire that Analyn had conjured up. "Any bigger," she had said, "and we would definitely attract some unwanted company."

"You mean like that man we ran into on the road?" Tali asked.

"Actually, probably not. People like that aren't very likely to go out of their way to harass anyone and mostly stick to the roads. It just so happens we crossed his path. I'm more worried about bandits or a rogue band of Stormcloak stragglers coming to investigate."

"Stormcloak?"

"They're a rebel group that tried to overthrow the Empire in Skyrim so that the province could become an independent nation. The Legion and myself put them down and quelled it, but there are still a few pockets of them around, especially up here in the north and around Windhelm."

"You helped the Legion?"

"That's why I signed up in the first place, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The Argonian closed up, the cheery attitude fading back into her normal expression that was somewhere between annoyed, bored, and cocky.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any unhappy memories." Tali seemed a little taken aback by her reaction.

"No, no, it's alright. My time with the Legion was actually some of my fondest memories." She started to get that distant look in her eyes that meant she was getting lost in her past memories.

"Is that where you met Hadvar?" Shepard spoke up, hoping to change the topic.

"Oh, uh, sorta?"

"What do you mean, 'sort of'?" Liara responded, skeptical.

"Well, we actually met when I was set to be executed in a small village up in the south east mountains."

"Wait, you were going to be executed?!"

"Long story." Analyn shot a knowing look at Shepard. "He helped me escape after there was a dragon attack that interrupted the proceedings."

"So dragons are just a normal occurrence here?" Liara got that look of curiosity on her face that meant she had an entire arsenal of questions now prepared.

"For about the past year or so, yeah."

Apparently Analyn had noticed the fact that Liara was preparing to launch seemingly infinite questions at her again, and quickly said, "The night is starting to grow old. Just like every other day, tomorrow is going to be a long one, and you all need rest."

The Asari closed her mouth and looked vaguely disappointed. Tali added a sigh of her own, apparently she too had been curious about this place. Shepard didn't want to admit it, but a slight sensation of disappointment crept into her heart as well with the Argonian's dismissal. Nothing got past Analyn, however, and she said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, you can ask me more questions tomorrow on the road and once we get to the relative comfort of Windpeak Inn at Dawnstar."

The two perked up a little, and Shepard joined them in the bedrolls lying several feet away from the warmth of the flames. Analyn stood and walked over to a nearby tree, leaned up against it, and set up to keep watch for the night.

…

Kaidan awoke to the smell of sulfur and the sensation of heat washing over him. Prying his eyes open, he saw a hellish landscape of jagged, black rocks, scraggly thorned bushes (if you could call them that), and massive lakes of lava. He tried to move, but quickly found that he was chained upright to the rough, wooden pole behind him. Pulses of pain shot through his head, presumably from where he had been struck, and he noticed the sensation of drying blood along the side of his face.

At the sound of his chains jangling, one of the creatures that had assaulted them up at the shrine started and turned from standing guard. After eyeing him up for a minute or two, it teleported away in a flash of swirling flames.

Looking to his right, Kaidan saw Garrus in an identical situation to his own, although he had not awoken yet. Before he could try and wake the Turian up, the creature warped back, and said in a sharp, grating voice akin to if a Krogan had a headcold and a mouthful of nails, "Master Dagon requires your presence. You do not speak unless spoken too, and you show him proper respect. Answer all questions he asks. You understand?"

Kaidan nodded weakly, the motion sending a wave of lightheadedness into his skull, nearly causing him to pass out again and only worsening his headache. He desperately clung to his consciousness, and watched as the creature roughly prodded Garrus until his eyes opened and gave him the same spiel.

It then proceeded to take Kaidan and Garrus down from the poles they were bound to, making sure their hands and feed stayed in shackles, and slowly guided them across the treacherous landscape to see this "Master Dagon."

* * *

 **Ah, Hadvar was always my favorite (but that might just be because I'm inclined towards the Legion). Please review and tell me what you think! I really appreciate it!**


	10. Chapter 10

**In response to Quintain Apprentice of Alduin's comment, I don't think that all connection with Dagon's realm was severed, only the Gates he made for the Oblivion invasion. Therefore, he can make smaller portals to and from his dimension, just not one on the scale as seen in Oblivion, as he had to prepare for like a hundred years to make those. At least, that's the premise I'm operating under.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The walk to Dawnstar was, surprisingly, a fairly pleasant one. They managed to avoid any possible conflicts, and spent most of their time listening to Analyn tell them about Skyrim. She described each of the nine Holds and explained how their system of government functioned. She told them the story of Alduin's return and how she managed to prevent it. She told them, rather passionately, about the civil war that had plagued the land. Before she could get into describing the finer points of military strategy, snow-covered houses rose up from the horizon.

"Is that Dawstar? It seems small to be the capital of a hold." Liara observed.

"Yeah, not many people can stand the living conditions up here." Analyn replied. "That reminds me, do you want to find a courier to send a message back to Kaidan, Garrus, and Wrex?"

"Yes, we do. You said we could find one at the inn?" Shepard answered.

"More than likely." The Argonian dug around in a pouch on her belt for a minute, then held out a handful of Septims. "You'll need some coin if you want to do anything. Take these."

"Thank you," The commander smiled and started to look for the sign that indicated the town's inn with Liara and Tali following behind.

…

"Ah, yes, we have a courier." The man behind the counter walked off and tapped the shoulder of a differnt man in worn clothes hunched over a table. After a brief exchanging of words, he stood up and walked over to Shepard and the others. "Just hand me the message you want delivered and where to, pay my fee, and I'll set off."

Shepard wasn't expecting to have to write anything, and with a start she realized she didn't actually know how to write. All communication was done digitally, and so there was no need for it.

The courier gave her a strange look, apparently sensing her surprise at his words.

Turning to the two behind her, she whispered, "Do either of you know how to write?"

Both shook their heads.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the man. "I'm afraid we don't know how to write. Is there any way we could tell you the message and you write it down?"

A brief look of annoyance crossed his face, but he quickly hid it, and said, "Sure." He walked up to the innkeeper and returned with a piece of parchment, quill, and ink well. "Go ahead."

"To Kaidan, Garrus, and Wrex." She paused in order to tell him how to spell out the names. "We have made it safely to Dawnstar, a city northeast of where you are. Analyn says that we will enter the ruins tomorrow, and be back at the shrine in a week at the latest. She also says that if you need to, ask Meridia for permission to enter the shrine. Apparently there are doors at the foot of the structure that lead to a more expansive temple. I hope that everything is going well for you, and that Wrex hasn't destroyed too many things out of boredom."

The courier quickly finished scribbling out the words, and asked, "Do you want to add your names to it so that they know who it's from?"

She nodded, "Liara, Tali, and Shepard" Again, she had to spell the names out for him.

"And where do you want this delivered to?"

"The Shrine of Meridia, in Haafingar."

The man named his price, which Shepard paid with the gold Analyn had given her.

"I'll be off then." He briskly turned and started at a jog out the door.

Analyn had not followed them into the inn, so Shepard assumed she was off buying supplies. Again, the commander approached the front counter and got the attention of the innkeeper. "Do you have any rooms available?"

"Of course! It's ten gold to stay the night."

Right as Shepard counted out the money, Analyn walked in.

Shepard heard the breath catch in the man's throat.

"You guys getting a room?" The Argonian said, coming to a stop beside Shepard.

"Yeah, I-"

"No, no, for you, it's free. Don't worry about it."

Shepard looked up in surprise, and Analyn spoke, "I insist on paying my fare, Thoring."

"It's the least I can do to thank you for freeing us from the nightmares!"

"I mean it."

The man, Thoring, sighed in resignation and accepted the small pouch Analyn set on the counter. She strode off into the room to the left of them. Almost as soon as she entered, she came back out, seemingly with more of a spring in her step.

"Sorry to duck out like that, had to drop off some stuff."

Right as Shepard was about to ask what the Argonian had picked up, a little girl approached them shyly.

"Um, hello ladies." She curtsied. "I was wondering, do you know what the music of life is?"

"Ahahahahaha. Hahaha. Aha." Analyn's obviously fake, awkward laugh startled Shepard. "What kind of question is that for a child to be asking?" A dangerous glint entered her eyes. "Go back home to your parents little one."

"I have nowhere to go!" The same look that was in the Argonians eyes entered into those of the child's.

"I'm sure we have some room-" Liara started, but was interrupted by a visibly angry Analyn.

"My companion knows not what she is talking about, we-"

"Too late!" The child mocked, and ran into their room.

"You need to learn when to hold your tongue, Asari." Analyn hissed. Liara flinched back as if struck.

The reptilian being in front of them seemed completely changed, seemed more dangerous. This was not the Analyn they had grown to know over the past week.

…

 _Damn Babette!_ Analyn screamed to herself in her head. She had known this was a danger of coming to Dawnstar, but she had hoped to get in and out before they caught wind of her.

Analyn should have known better. Nothing happens in this place without their knowledge.

Almost as soon as she had snapped at Liara, she felt awful about it.

However, the Argonian had a child vampire in their room to deal with, and there was no time to make reparations.

Maybe it was better this way. Better to separate herself from people like this. Mistakes wouldn't happen then. No one would have to get hurt.

She practically sprinted into the rented room, slamming the door behind her. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Babette stuck out her tongue. "It seems like you're not happy to see me, huh?"

"Shut up." Analyn took a ragged breath. "You know not to contact me unless it's an emergency."

"I know."

"Then let me repeat my previous question. Why. The. Fuck. Are. You. Here."

"Just wanted to check in with my favorite Listener."

The girl's shit was not flying with Analyn.

"Okay, okay, Nazim said to contact you. He thought I'd draw less attention to you than he would. We have a contract. A big one. We, well I should say you, impressed a lot of people with the assassination of the Emperor."

"You know I don't take-"

"It's on some Stormcloak warrior, don't worry. Have more faith in us, sister, we know how you operate."

"Why is this so important that you tell me this now? Couldn't you have waited?"

She feigned a hurt look, "Yes, but it was more convenient to tell you know. Sithis knows when you would have come around here again."

"Ok, ok, fine. I'll come back in a week or two to discuss the finer points of the contract. Now please leave."

Babette smiled, gave a little wave, and said as she headed out the door, "You know, you should visit more often. Nazir and I miss you, we could use your help training new recruits, and Cicero can get a bit out of hand without your presence."

The Argonian gave a curt nod, and tried to hide the fact that she really did miss her visits to the Sanctuary. She followed the vampire out of the room, and felt the accusatory gaze of Shepard fall on her.

That's right. She had been unfairly rude to Liara, who was probably the most kind out of all of them. Guilt that had previously been tucked away during the conversation with Babette came rushing forward.

"What on earth was that about?" Shepard exclaimed. "It was just a little girl!"

Babette, who was just exiting through the door, could be heard to snicker.

"I'd rather talk about this in the room, if you don't mind." Analyn said, shooting a glance at the bard and innkeeper that currently occupied the large space.

"Fine." Shepard answered, and all four went into the place occupied by Analyn and Babette a few moments earlier.

Before the Commander got a chance to speak, Analyn said earnestly "Liara, I am so sorry for what I said. It was… I was not at my greatest emotional standing at that moment, and I let my fear and anger of the moment be directed at you. That was completely ridiculous of me to do, and wholly uncalled for."

Liara slowly nodded.

"You took the words out of my mouth." Shepard remarked. "What I want to know is why a child elicited that kind of reaction from you."

"You know how I mentioned I was a member of a group of assassins?"

"Are you saying that-"

"Yes, I am. While she appears to be a little girl, she is in all actuality a vampire, and thus is hundreds of years old."

Shocked silence stole the words from the crew's mouths.

"Wait, you're still in contact with the assassin organization?" Tali questioned, shattering it.

"Um, yes, I am."

"So this entire trip, you've been in communication with them?" Shepard said, distrust starting to etch its way onto her face.

"No! No, she just came to see me here because I don't often get near enough the Sanctuary for us to communicate."

"And what message did she deliver? Who are you going to kill now?" Shepard's voice was getting steadily louder with every word spoken.

"No one! I mean, just a Stormcloak, but that will help the country! I've changed my ways, I only kill for the greater good!"

"How is it up to you to determine what the greater good is?"

"Completing the contracts I do is no different than killing in a war. No one person or group of people could possibly have the moral standing or power to determine that someone's life is not worth its existence any more, and yet people make that decision all the time. As I understand it, you have made that choice many times as well, so you have no grounds to judge me on."

Shepard opened her mouth to speak, then closed it as Analyn's words sunk in. "I, well, I understand what you are saying, and I understand your perspective on this." She finally said.

"Do the others in your organization share your morals?" Tali asked cautiously.

"Well…Not exactly, no."

"Oh."

Liara, who had remained quiet throughout the entire conversation, spoke up, "Yet despite the fact that they go against your morals, you still care for them, don't you?"

"I guess I do, yeah."

The Argonian cleared her throat, and said, "I hope you can forgive me, for what I said. I know it won't be overnight, and I know you may not forgive me at all, but-"

"I forgive you."

"I'm a terrible- what?"

"I forgive you, for what you said."

"Just like that?"

"You seemed like you were really upset about it, and I could see the regret in your eyes as the words came out of your mouth."

"Th-thank you. From the bottom of my heart." Analyn replied, pouring as much of her emotion as she could into the words.

She smiled, the radiance of it guaranteeing the truthfulness of her words.

"Tomorrow, we reach the ruins. I know I say this a lot, but you need to get your rest so that we can be prepared." Analyn said stately, changing the subject abruptly.

Shepard wasn't quite ready to let it go yet. "Thank you for not lying to us about the nature of what went on. We made a decision to trust you, and we plan to stick to our judgement."

Liara and Tali confirmed their commander's statement with nods.

"You don't know how much that means to me." Analyn spoke seriously, attempting to cover the emotion in her voice, and added one of her rare smiles to the end.

…

The trek through the sulfurous hellscape was a long one, but eventually Kaidan and Garrus entered a large, grotesque tower and stood in a room lit by flaming orbs scattered along the perimeter and the poor imitations of windows that let in the light from the outside lava pits.

"Master Dagon will be here soon. Wait." With that, the creature exited.

Several minutes later, a deep, harsh voice filled the space. "Are you the one that they call 'Shepard'?"

Kaidan exchanged a look with Garrus. Apparently the beasts thought they had caught the commander. Maybe it was better to let them continue thinking that. "Yes, I am Shepard." Kaidan replied confidently.

Laughter boomed throughout the room, and a figure appeared in front of them with a blast of heat and light.

The only thing that came to Kaidan's mind was "Devil".

It was the best way to describe what he saw. A demon.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Commander Shepard. I've been told many tales of your exploits, and I must say I'm impressed."

Kaidan gave a respectful nod. "Dagon, I assume."

"That's Mehrunes Dagon to you, mortal." The creature took stock of him and Garrus, then with a grunt said, "I was expecting several more of you."

Frantically, Kaidan thought up a reason for the others to be absent. "They, uh, didn't make it. We were ambushed by necromancers and lost over half of our crew."

"Pathetic."

At least now he wouldn't send out any more of his minions to search out and capture Tali, Liara, and the real Shepard.

"Although, I have to admit your Argonian-like friend has shown himself to be a mighty warrior. He just might earn my respect."

"You mean Wrex?"

"Ah, is that his name? He refuses to speak, save for insults. He took down more than a few of my Dremora before they managed to triumph over him. Quite troublesome, but admirable in his efforts. I can see his ambition in his eyes." Dagon's eyes glinted, seemingly to mimic the look he was talking about.

"What have you done to him?!"

"Oh, just some torture; I'm sure he maintained his sanity. However, that is beside the point."

So that's why Wrex hadn't come back to camp. He had been captured as they had, although it appeared he had put up a significantly better fight. "And what is the point?"

"The point, mortal, is that you represent potential. A potential to not only conquer this world, but other ones as well. A potential that I will make use of."

"You don't actually expect me to help you, do you?"

"That is exactly what I expect."

Kaidan smirked at Dagon's arrogance.

"What's so funny, mortal? You think you won't? You think you'll be able to withstand my interrogations? If that is the case, you are more idiotic than I was led to believe." It got uncomfortably close to the lieutenant, a scent of burnt, rotting flesh wafting around him. "I will break you and I will be the most powerful being the universe has ever seen. You cannot stop my destiny!" Pulling back to stand before them, he followed with, "You know, you could make this easy for yourself. I could give you power and glory beyond comprehension for your trouble. All you need to do is give me all the knowledge you possess of your advanced technology and weaponry, and order the cessation of your assaults against a Turian named Saren."

"That's quite the ask."

"I'm offering quite the reward."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your offer."

"So be it. Somehow, I knew that's what you would say."

It smiled.

"In fact, I was almost hoping that was what you'd say. It makes this so much more fun for me."

* * *

 **Don't worry, I won't wait more than a few days in between chapters now. I've actually got almost all of the rest of the story written now, so that should help me stick to that.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! I'd love to know what you think of where the story is going! I really appreciate it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Heh, so about that "only a few days between updating" thing, I thought I could keep that update during band camp. I greatly overestimated my energy, and I haven't done much of anything besides band for the past two weeks, so I apologize for that.**

 **And to reply to Quintain Apprentice of Alduin's question, how Dagon knows about Shepard and crew is a little bit of a secret, and will be addressed later on in the story. Sorry about that!**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

When Shepard woke up, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Something had gone wrong. She expressed her concerns to Analyn, who simply told her that she'd had vivid dreams the night previously, and the impression they left had remained.

Despite Shepard's worry, Liara and Tali were buzzing with excitement at the thought of visiting the Dwemer ruin. They gathered at the start of a small, partially snowed over path on the outskirts of Dawnstar.

"Now, I'm going to give you the rundown on these ruins. They can be more dangerous than you might think, and being prepared for what's in there could very well save your life." Analyn started pacing in front of them, like a school teacher. "Firstly, there are many traps that fill the halls of the ruins. These mostly consist of pressure plates, but can also be tripwires. I assume you are all familiar with how those types of traps work?"

They nodded.

"Good. Tripwires will be hard to see, so before you walk into a new area, check for thin white lines on the floor. Pressure plates are more obvious, as they are plates on the floor that are outlined in gold, but tend to trigger deadlier traps, so be absolutely sure you know where you are putting your feet. Secondly, we have the denizens of the ruins to worry about."

"Like security systems?" Liara asked.

"In a way, yes. The Dwemer built many automatons, and apparently they were damn good at it because they still function to this day. You'll be able to hear them before you see them; keep an ear out for metallic clanking or the sound of mining. Those sounds mean there is one nearby. However, there are many automations that lay dormant. When you enter a room, check for tubes coming out of the walls as these often have automatons in them and they will come out when you walk by. These will be the majority of the ones we come across, however there is a type of massive automaton that is extremely deadly. They're called Centurions, and most stay dormant in racks in important or final rooms."

"You said most stay dormant. Does that mean that there are functional ones?" This time Tali asked the question.

"Yes, unfortunately. In the treasure room or grand library or whatever the hell they call it of any given ruin, there will almost always be one functional Centurion keeping guard. When we get to that point, stay away and let me handle it. I mean it."

Solemnly the crew agreed.

"Well that's really all you need to know. I know it seems like a lot, but you all catch on quick."

"Is there any kind of way we could predict the layout? Any norms of how they structure their cities?" The scientist side of Liara was being brought out at the prospect of what awaited them.

"Eh, maybe. I don't really pay attention to that stuff. Personally, I feel like the things are gigantic pains in the ass, and I rarely feel like exploring them."

"Really? I love stuff like this."

"I can tell."

Liara blushed. Analyn double checked that they had everything they needed, and led then off into the cold wastelands of the Pale.

…

A tall, stone pillar stuck out of the ground before them, a thick layer of snow coating every available surface. Liara desperately wanted to see all that it had to offer. Not only was there a more advanced, ancient, extinct race that had inhabited this planet, but they also vanished under mysterious circumstances. It was strangely similar to her own studies of the Protheans, but Liara just took it as fantastically good luck.

"Is that it?" Tali sounded less than impressed.

"I wish. Dwemer ruins extend for miles under the surface of the soil. If we ever get a spare second, remind me to tell you about Blackreach."

"Everyone ready?" Shepard asked, attempting to return to her role as leader.

A chorus of assent responded.

"Good. Let's get going." She and Analyn started off, leading the other two into the ruins before them.

They stood in a room that looked almost as if it were made of brass. A large, squat lever sat in the middle of the room, and after looking around for a few moments, Analyn pulled it.

The room jittered to life, and Liara could feel the distinct sensation of moving downwards. It seemed as if the room was an elevator.

"Hey, this ancient, alien elevator is still faster than the one we have on the Normandy." Tali commented.

Shepard gave her a withering look. "I've told you, I can't do anything about it."

"I know, I know, it was merely an observation. You always say you value our input."

When the elevator stopped, it stopped ferociously. The others managed to keep their balance, but Liara was not so lucky. Embarrassed, she quickly stood up and dusted herself off.

"You ok?" Analyn sounded concerned. Liara was surprised to see that the Argonian had already moved to her side.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's get going." She really wanted to move past the moment as quickly as possible.

"Right. This way, stay behind me."

The floor consisted of carved stone, and golden metal lined the walls.

It only took about ten minutes before they ran into the first "automaton." It was a spider-like construct, and Analyn quickly dispatched it with a swift strike from her blade.

"That was a Dwarven Spider Worker. Don't worry, they're mostly harmless."

"Do you mind if I take a look?" Tali and Liara both said at the same time.

"Go ahead." Analyn seemed baffled by their eagerness.

The next hour was spent dissecting the creature and discussing the various parts they found. It included a brief dissertation on soul gems by Analyn.

"So wait, you're telling me mortal souls can be captured and used as power?" Liara was astounded.

"Yeah, basically."

That ability, the technology to create a power source from life itself could be a deadly weapon.

"Can you capture the souls of a sentient creature?" Shepard asked, whose train of thought seemingly followed Liara's.

"Sure. But you need a special type of gem. They're much stronger and more potent than normal ones though."

The Asari and the Commander shared a look. This would be a conversation and moral dilemma for a later time.

"I'm done tinkering if you are." Tali said, standing up. "This tech is very… primitive. However, there's still things we could learn from it."

"I agree. Is there any way we could pick it up on our way out?" Liara followed up.

"I could just carry it now. I doubt we'll be leaving through the place we entered through anyways."

The Argonian tucked all the bits and bobs Tali gave her into a sack at her waist.

"There's going to be more like this, and more different kinds that this. If it's all the same to you, I would rather not spend an hour or more each time going over ever excruciating detail."

A brief look of disappointment flashed over Liara's face, and presumably Tali's as well. "That's ok. I understand we need to get the Lumis and get back to the others."

The Quarian nodded in agreement. "Besides, we already have a good sample. That will last us for a while I think."

…

Shepard was starting to understand Analyn's dislike of these Dwemer ruins. The thing seemed endless; they had been walking through it for a good three hours now after that first encounter. Although there had been many more like it, Spiders and another creature Analyn had called a "Dwemer Sphere" (Shepard hated to admit it but those freaked her out a little bit. Their faces were just so…creepy), it all felt boring and repetitive. Only one fight had even required the involvement of the rest of the squad.

"I know, I know, this one seems pretty boring right now. Apparently this Vuldorahl wasn't one of the major cities; sorry about that. I wish it was a more important one. It'd make things vastly more interesting. Believe me, until you've seen some of the more massive and impressive ruins, you haven't seen majesty. As much as I dislike them, I can't help but be awed by them." Analyn was filling in the silence between fights by telling them about all the wonderous ruins she'd seen and how she was so sorry this one was just an ordinary one. Liara and Tali didn't seem to mind that that this one wasn't a "big-ass piece of showmanship", as they seemed completely fascinated by every detail. Tali more by the mechanics and engineering and "How does all this still work after so long?" Liara, on the other hand, more by the layout and the hierarchy of the place and society.

They took a moment to skirt a pressure plate set into the floor (Analyn had already demonstrated the fearsome blades that they triggered) and entered a large, airy room.

"Wow that was quick." Analyn sounded genuinely surprised. And a little relieved.

"It's been three hours." Shepard reminded her.

"Yeah, short for a ruin expedition."

Shepard was glad this was the only ruin they had to go into.

A loud hiss punctuated the end of the conversation. At first, Shepard had thought it was Analyn reacting to some annoyance, but then as it continued and increased in pitch, it became obvious it wasn't her.

In fact, it was coming from across the room.

A massive, hulking figure lurched out from an enclave on the far wall, spewing steam, presumably the source of the sound.

Analyn stood stock still for a fraction of a second, then flew into action. "COVER NOW!" She yelled as she prepared her standard fireball-sword combo. A whirlwind of flames and blades, she flew at the behemoth.

It withstood her attacks. What Shepard now knew from their journey was a rare occurrence.

A blast of steam sent her flying into the wall behind where the squad had crouched behind some rubble.

Not good.

Shepard drew her sword, Tali did the same with her daggers, and Liara prepared her biotics.

This was it. Their first real, true fight without any aid from their Argonian guide.

There was a very good chance they'd die. Shepard didn't think about that as she ran yelling at the Centurion.

The steam that seemed to pour out of every crevice of its body seared her skin, but she kept swinging. Liara was trying to hold back the clouds with her biotics, but there was too much of it for her to manage all at once. Tali snuck up behind it, furiously slashed with her daggers for a few seconds, and then ran off to regain her advantage.

With one final strike across its chest from Shepard's sword, the white clouds ceased and it slowly collapsed with an echoing clatter.

It was dead.

Shepard stood panting, adrenaline still coursing through her veins. Liara and Tali were in similar states. At least neither of them seemed to sustain any serious damage.

Then the memory of Analyn being tossed like a ragdoll slammed back to the Commander, and in a flash she was at the back wall by her side.

The Argonian was kneeling heavily on one knee, grimacing in pain.

"Are you ok?" Shepard asked, sounding sterner than she intended.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second." Analyn replied through clenched teeth.

That's when she started to glow. A soft, golden light emanated from her skin, and soon she was on her feet. "You guys did great! I, of course, weakened it up a bit first." She sounded fine.

"What was that?"

"Oh? The glow? That's the Histskin. It's an ability unique to Argonians."

"It healed you?"

"Yeah. Basically I call on the Hist to heal me, and it answers by regenerating my health." She cracked a smile. "Sorry to leave you guys on your own like that."

When they had the encounter with the Thalmor what seemed like ages ago, Shepard had initially thought that the Argonian was too much of a loner to ever really be a strong component of a team. She had seemed like a firm loner, and seemed that she would've preferred to stay that way. However, it seemed that now that they'd gotten closer and traveled together for a while, she had opened up to them and grown fiercely protective. Hell, she'd just almost died to protect them from any harm.

Analyn reminded Shepard of herself.

"Hey, you got some nasty burns there. You want a potion for that?"

"Oh, uh," Shepard had actually completely forgotten about her injuries. With the reminder, though, the searing pain all over her face and arms came surging back.

Apparently the expression on her face was confirmation enough for Analyn, since she pulled out a small red vial identical to the one she had given Shepard after the dragon attack.

"This will help." She said, handing it to the Commander. "Now, let's see about that ancient Dwemer artifact that we came here for."

Downing the potion, burns starting to fade away, Shepard followed Analyn into the center of the room.

A pedestal rose up from the ground in front of them, the same grey stone with gold trim as the rest of the ruins. A small, green crystal box sat on top, light shining in on it from a skylight in the ceiling of the chamber. It glittered, and seemed to go on forever when you looked at its center.

"Is that it?" Tali asked. "Seems small."

"Yeah, it does." Analyn sounded lost in thought.

"Do you think it's got traps on it?"

"Probably. Dwemer are crafty assholes." The Argonian gazed intently at the pedestal. After several minutes of silence, she said, "Looks like it's sitting on top of a pressure plate. Divines know what it'll trigger."

"Any way to disarm it?" Tali asked.

Analyn ran a finger along the edge of the dais, and replied, "Looks like it's gonna trigger a blade trap. If we're quick enough, we'll be able to snatch it and get back before it does any damage."

"That does not sound like a foolproof plan." Liara doubted.

"That's because it's not. Stand back." Slowly the Argonian approached the item they had searched for, letting her hand hover inches over it for a few beats. Then, in a blur of movement, she snatched it up and dodged to the side. A flurry of blades flew out after her, frantically flailing around the empty space where the Argonian had been seconds before.

Analyn released a pent-up breath and said, "Let's get going. There's not really anything else for us to do here."

"Well, we could study more machinery." Tali suggested, jokingly.

"If you want to stay here by yourself, then sure."

"No, no, I'm coming!"

In several minutes, they were standing in another elevator heading back up to the surface, and to the Shrine.

* * *

 **Please review and tell me what you think! I really appreciate it!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Haha! I managed to update within a day!**

 **However, that means that there aren't any reviews to respond to, so I'm just going to thank everyone who has enjoyed this story so far. I love all the questions people have, because it means that they care enough about the story to ask them, and I appreciate all the comments saying how much they enjoy the story. Both help keep my inspiration up for writing!**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was dark when they stepped out of the elevator and into the snowy northern Skyrim air. After a quick look at the sky, Analyn determined they were near the border of the Pale and Whiterun Hold.

That's when Meridia's voice boomed around them, echoing of the landscape. "My champion, my brother has dared to send his Daedra to defile _my_ shrine. You must once again-"

"Wait, what? Who? Which one? Are the mortals we left behind still there?" The Argonian was too impatient to listen to the rest of the Prince's spiel.

The Daedra could be heard to huff. "Mehrunes Dagon. I'm not sure about your mortal associates, I did not pay much mind to them. Now, if you will refrain from-"

"Do you think you guys can walk through the night?" Analyn asked, turning to the others, whose faces mirrored her worry.

Shepard looked back at the other two, who nodded, and said "Yes, we can."

"Good. We'll make it to Morthal by noon tomorrow."

"You really think we can make the trip that quickly?" Liara sounded doubtful.

"MORTALS, YOU SHALL LISTEN AND HEAR MY WORDS." Meridia was now yelling to get their attention. "Cleanse my shrine of-"

"Yeah, yeah, get rid of the daedra, clean shit up, we get it." Analyn cut her off once more. "If we get going now, and keep a good pace, we can."

The sensation that indicated a Daedric Prince's presence vanished; apparently Meridia was through with her message.

…

True to Analyn's estimation, they were in Morthal at around noon the next day. While they had run into a gang of bandits, Analyn blasted the ground with a purple spell that summoned a ghostly figure to fight alongside her and told the others to keep going. They went on like that every time they ran into a conflict, and every time Analyn managed to run and catch up with them.

They slept through the rest of the daylight hours, and set out again at sunset. Only an hour from the town, a now recognizable roar filled the sky.

A dragon.

Analyn muttered curses under her breath, and as the beast lowered to blast flames at the group, she shouted.

GOL HAH DOV

The fiery breath that had been moments from spewing forth ceased. Instead, it lowered itself to the ground, and Analyn approached it confidently.

"Come on, it'll give us a ride."

"WHAT?" Liara yelled. "Wasn't it trying to kill us five seconds ago?"

"Well, yeah, but it's under my control now so don't worry."

Shepard looked as dumbstruck as Liara. The absurdity of the situation made Tali chuckle lightly, but she, too, was astounded.

"We need to get going." A serious tone laid underneath the Argonian's voice now. "You can ask all the questions you want later." The "When we're sure your friends aren't dead" was left implied at the end of her words.

"Right. If you trust this, then we do to." Shepard responded, regaining her authoritative air.

Soon, all four sat in a row on the back of the dragon. To say the spiny, rough creature was uncomfortable to ride was an understatement. However, Tali could tell it was moving much faster than they ever could on foot.

In fact, in a mere three hours, the dragon was circling the recognizable angel-inspired statue. It landed at the base of the path that led up to the temple, and with a word from Analyn, took off back into the skies.

The group all took off at a run along the beaten path, the anxiety so heavy that it was a wonder they could move at all.

When they got to the foot of the temple, the same fear that each person held in their heart on the trip there was realized. Blood spattered the ground, some red, some blue, some… black? Krogans didn't have black blood, as far as Tali knew.

"Damn. Looks like we were too late to catch them." She sighed heavily, and hunkered down to look more closely at one of the spatters. "Hah, looks like your friends put up quite a fight."

"Do you know how many they were up against?" Shepard asked, her voice taught. Reading between the lines, Tali could tell she was really asking if there was any chance they had survived the battle.

The Argonian made a clicking sound and stood up to walk over behind a tree. Tali could see something black, spiny, and slightly covered in snow poking out from behind it. "Well, there's a dead one here, so at least two, maybe three?" She started intently studying the carnage left behind, from arrows laying on the ground to signature signs of biotic combat. "Definitely three, at least."

"Is there any way that… you know…" Liara tentatively asked, leaving the rest of her question to remain silently understood.

"I mean, if they took one down, it's possible they took the others down. They could have surprised them, then retreated, slowly wearing the Dremora's health down until they were all dead. If that's the case, then there should be prints and signs of battle leading from here to somewhere off in the woods."

"I'll look." Shepard immediately volunteered. Tali wasn't surprised.

Analyn started to walk up to the statue of Meridia at the top of the shrine. Liara and Tali followed, and all three stood before the image of the Prince.

"Might as well set this up now, so that we can try to notify your 'ship' or whatever it is as soon as possible." Analyn sounded disconnected when she spoke, as if she was not fully present. She drew the green, crystalline cube from her bag, and said, speaking loudly yet still with the same flat tone, "Meridia! We have brought the Lumis to your beacon!"

A light started to emanate from the statue, signaling the Daedric Prince's presence. "Ah, so you have. Place it atop my beacon, activate it, and it shall magnify my Light tenfold!"

Analyn walked forwards, set the cube on top of the many-sided, white "beacon" and absolutely nothing happened. It was just a cube on top of a glowing shape. In fact, it seemed to dim the light coming out.

"It's not doing anything." Liara whispered.

"You must activate it!" Meridia's voice slammed down.

"HOW?" Analyn yelled, her distanced visage shattered by a sudden burst of anger.

"It is a Dwemer artifact, I have no knowledge of its workings. I only know of its affects and its existence."

The Argonian clenched her fists and seemed about to scream to the skies, but instead blasted a fireball at a nearby tree. "We will figure it out then." She growled. Whipping around to face Liara and Tali, she said, sounding slightly less pissed, "You two, you seem to like this kind of thing. Normally, I would handle this but I hardly have the patience for this damn thing right now. Please, figure out how to work the fucking thing."

They silently nodded, and went to tinker with the mysterious Dwemer artifact. Not only had the rest of their crew potentially been killed by demons, but now their main chance of escape from this place was in question too.

Bosh'tet.

…

Analyn walked down the bloodied stairs to what had been the camp they had set up so long ago. Shepard was nowhere in sight.

Dammit. Damn it to Oblivion and back. The Argonian felt like this was her fault. If she'd just gone by herself to the ruin, she could've handled it on her own, she'd done it before. If Kaidan, Garrus, and Wrex were supported by the others she took with her, they might still be here.

Analyn hadn't wanted to tell the others, but she highly doubted the others were still alive. Those were Dremora, and even she had trouble with them. And if she couldn't take them, she highly doubted three newly trained fighters could have survived a battle.

That's when she saw Shepard emerge from the woods in surrounding the shrine, obviously trying to hide her disappointment.

So there weren't any signs that they had traveled from the shrine. Although, the Commander didn't seem like she had found any bodies either.

There was only one way Analyn could think of to find out what happened for sure.

Shepard came to stand beside the Argonian, and the two stood in solemn silence for a long while.

"It's unlikely they're alive, isn't it." Shepard said, sounding despondent.

"Yeah."

She sighed.

Quickly, Analyn followed with, "although, whenever Daedra ransack an area, they usually leave the bodies lying around, and we haven't found any here yet."

"That's a small chance for hope."

"Well it's all we've got, so it has to be enough."

"I just- I don't want to lose anyone again." She sounded so world-weary, so sorrowful that Analyn had to look at her to make sure it was still the confident, inspiring commander she had come to know standing next to her.

"What do you mean, again?" It was a risky question, but it was begging to be asked.

"There was a mission. I made a choice, and one of my closest crew members died."

Analyn had figured something like that was coming, but she still didn't know how to respond. To her surprise, however, Shepard continued to talk.

"Her name was Ashley. She was human, like me and Kaidan. We had a close bond, the three of us. She rather enjoyed poetry." A far off look started to form in her eyes. Analyn knew that look; it was a dangerous one. She was regretting starting the Commander down this road.

"I had to leave one behind. It was Kaidan or Ashley." Tears started to form in her eyes. Analyn could hardly believe it.

"There was no right choice." The Argonian tried to sound comforting.

"I know." Shepard snapped. "I-I'm sorry, it's just-"

"No, I understand." Analyn smiled. "It's hard, when you have to decide things like that. No one should, and no one has the right to, and yet, they keep falling into your lap. You just have to accept it, and accept that there's no other way for it to have happened."

Shepard returned the smile. She was about to respond when she got interrupted by a blast of pure, blinding light from behind them.

The combined yells of an Asari and a Quarian echoed behind it.

"Looks like they got the Lumis working, at least." Analyn said, then started to walk up to the top of the shrine. The moment over, Shepard followed.

The green box had expanded, and now stood as a contraption as big as an ice wolf, standing on five legs over the beacon. Several lenses were positioned over the beam of light, which now rocketed up into the sky as a massive pillar.

"We got it working!" Tali excitedly exclaimed.

At least something was going right.

"Good." The Argonian simply responded.

Now was the time to tell them the plan that she had been formulating since they had arrived and found no dead bodies.

"I have an idea. For how to find out what happened here, and if there's any chance that the others are still alive."

All three focused their attention on her, eyes sharp.

"Meridia said that is was the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon who sent the Daedra here. If we travel to his shrine and commune with him, we could find out Wrex, Kaidan, and Garrus's fates."

"How far is his shrine?" Shepard asked, the hope managing to peek out in her voice.

"It's actually back the way we came from, not far south of Morthal."

"How long will it-"

"Day and a half, if we're lucky and make good time."

"Then there's no time to waste."

"Is the Lumis set? No signs of malfunctions?"

"Everything is functional, at least as far as we can tell." Tali replied, shrugging.

"Good. Hopefully your ship will get here soon. We might be needing the extra firepower."

Divines forbid it got down to a battle between themselves and the Daedra, but if it did, Analyn would prefer if they had all the help they could get.

…

They practically ran the entire way from the shrine to Morthal in a day. Sleeping for only a few hours, they set out again as soon as they could and made it to the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon right inbetween dawn and noon.

Even under their current circumstances, Shepard couldn't help but admit that the visage before them was impressive, albeit unnerving. The figure carved into the stones did not seem particularly kind or understanding.

Analyn walked up to a dark grey, ornate platform before the statue and firmly placed both her hands on it. "Hear me, Lord of Ambition, and answer."

The air seemed to become denser, and started to smell faintly of… sulfur?

"I owe you nothing, mortal. You are merely my pawn to spread my will."

The Argonian seemed to ignore what he said, and continued, "You recently sent your Daedra to your brother's shrine. For what purpose?"

Laughter crackled around them, causing everyone but Analyn to flinch. "It does not concern you. Leave. You are trying my patience."

"Did your Daedra find any mortals there?" Shepard didn't care she was mouthing off to the equivalent of a god. This conversation was going nowhere.

Analyn glared at her like she'd just murdered a child.

The air seemed to grow so heavy it was smothering her.

"You… I've not seen clothes like the ones you wear. And your companions…"

A roar of unadulterated rage blasted from every direction at once, causing all four to clasp their hands over their ears in a pitiful attempt to block it out.

"HE LIED! THAT FILTHY MORTAL SCUM! AND MY DAEDRA ARE JUST AS WORTHLESS!" The Prince's words were punctuated by another otherworldly screech.

"My lord! That is why I have brought them to you! When I saw the carnage at your infernal brother's shrine, I knew that you had sent your daedra to collect these mortals!"

Analyn's words felt like a direct punch in the gut; all the breath left Shepard's lungs. There was no way… She couldn't be so eager to sell them out, could she?

"If you were so sure of your mission, then why did you ask me my purpose?" At least it seemed like He had calmed down slightly, although the anger in his voice was still palpable.

"I wanted to be sure so that I did not waste any of your time." Each of Analyn's words sounded soaked in honey.

Dagon took a few moments to respond, apparently mulling over his response.

A purple vortex opened up in front of them, across from the altar Analyn was still leaning on.

"Bring them to my plane, and there they shall join the others. I appreciate that ONE of my disciples can be useful."

They were still alive. That must mean that Garrus, Wrex, and Kaidan were still alive. The knowledge and relief threatened to bring tears to Shepard's eyes, however the act of being roughly shoved by Analyn and two creatures she assumed to be Daedra into a portal was distracting her.

"Don't worry; I'm faking. Go along with it." A harsh, hurried whisper brushed Shepard's ear, and as soon as it came it was gone. The voice, despite being so briefly heard, was still recognizable as Analyn's.

She glanced over at Liara and Tali, and judging from the expression on their faces, the Argonian had gotten her message to them as well.

In a flash of light, they stood in the center of a landmass dotted with lakes of lava and coated with the heavy scent of sulfur.

Shepard couldn't tell if things were getting better or worse.

* * *

 **Next chapter will be a doozy.**

 **Please comment and tell me what you think! I really appreciate it!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I had hoped to get this chapter out a week earlier, but my usual proofreader was unavailable. Sorry about that!**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Kaidan had lost all sense of time. Everything was blurred together in searing pain, endless screamed questions, and the smell of sulfur.

The only thing that kept him going was the thought of Shepard and the others managing to contact the Normandy; as futile a hope as it was, it was all he had.

"Mortal." A loud voice addressed him from the entrance to the dungeon he was kept in. That was all they ever called him, and every time they left the room, he would repeat his own name to himself so he wouldn't forget.

However, it wasn't his usual Daedric torturer here to see him today. Focusing his bleary vision, he immediately recognized the figure before him.

"Lord Dagon." Kaidan couldn't keep the spite from his voice.

The Prince walked purposefully towards him, and immediately blasted his face with a flame spell.

"HOW DARE YOU LIE, YOU FILTH." He spat out his words, hot breath spewing into Kaidan's face.

That wasn't good.

"What do you mean?" Kaidan figured that he would play dumb, and see how far he could get with it. The punishment for lying couldn't be that much worse than what he was already going through, could it?

"YOU KNOW FULL WELL WHAT I MEAN. YOU ARE NOT SHEPARD." Dagon's eyes seemed moments away from igniting.

Shit.

"Unluckily for you, we have the real Shepard now." His voice lowered down from outright screaming, but each of his words were still loaded with a deadly focused rage.

Kaidan felt his entire body go cold, despite the ceaseless heat of the world around him.

"However, you might be useful as a bargaining chip, so your continued existence has some value. But do not think for one second that as soon as that usefulness fails that you will not be slain on the spot."

The only reply was a grunt.

Dagon raised a hand; two Daedra came into the tower behind him, rushed to Kaidan, undid his bonds, and roughly tied his hands behind his back.

Once they were outside Kaidan's prison, two more Daedra came up with Garrus in tow. The Turian looked like he was in the same shape that Kaidan was.

Muffled roaring came from their left. They all turned and saw a Krogan throwing a Daedra into one of the many lava pits.

Wrex.

Kaidan tried to summon his biotics to make a move for freedom, but the past few days of constant wear had weakened him too much. Besides, if this Dagon was really some kind of god, he doubted they would be able to take him down. The regular Daedra back at the shrine had been difficult enough.

And so, Kaidan and Garrus stood there helplessly as Wrex was pinned to the ground by three more Daedra, bound up like an animal, and carried to where they were standing.

…

Shepard, Tali, and Liara all stood with their hands and feet tied inside a vast room hewn from some sort of maroon solid.

Two Daedric warriors guarded the only exit. Three stood by them. This meant Analyn couldn't talk to them directly, but she had managed to give them a rundown of where they were on the trip to this place.

"It's called the Deadlands; it's the realm where the Mehrunes Dagon rules. Everything here can and will kill you. Just go along with me."

And those were the only words the Argonian had managed to successfully communicate to them unnoticed.

Shepard couldn't stand being this helpless, but despite everything, she had faith in their guide.

Dagon appeared in a swirl of flames in front of them.

"Hello, Commander. You have eluded us for a surprisingly long time, although part of that is inadequacy on my Daedric warrior's part."

He walked closer until his nose was practically touching hers.

"I hate the stench of your mortality, and yet I must withstand it, because you have knowledge on how to access thousands and thousands of other worlds. I need that knowledge."

Shepard remained silent.

"You humans are a stubborn bunch aren't you? So blind to my ambitions." He sighed, and Shepard couldn't help but flinch back from the repulsiveness of it.

Dagon grinned menacingly.

"I'm going to tell you what I told your other companions. You will give me knowledge of your advanced technology and weaponry, and cease your efforts to stop a Turian named Saren. In return, I will give you all the power and glory you have ever dreamed of."

Shepard kept her voice level as she spoke, "That's pathetic. Everyone who ever tries to squeeze information out of someone uses that dried out, cliché tactic. You really think I'm going to fall for that? If you can't even get an interrogation right, then I doubt you're going to be able to take over 'thousands of worlds' as you put it. You arrogant, one-note villains never last long."

The demon roared with rage.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU PUNY, RIDICULOUS EXCUSE FOR A CREATURE!"

He took a ragged breath, and gestured to someone behind them. The sound of shuffling feet echoed around the walls of the room, and the sight that followed made Shepard's blood run cold, then kindled the spark of rage in her heart.

Kaidan and Garrus stood broken and bloodied before them, looking about as stable on their feet as a child's art project made from toothpicks. Wrex wasn't even standing; he was tied to a pole, held up by two lesser Daedra and looked to be in just as bad condition, if not worse.

Apparently her reaction was visible, and Dagon started to laugh.

It was a vicious sound.

"So, I see you recognize your acquaintances here." He paused to silently gloat. "Now, you will tell me what I want to know or I will kill them. In front of you, right here, right now."

Shepard's breath caught in her throat. She could try to insult the Daedra some more, see if she could get some more time or cause him to make a mistake, or she could try to be diplomatic and make a deal of some kind.

She couldn't bend to his demands. Judging from the defiant look in Garrus and Kaidan's eyes, they mirrored her conviction.

Dagon smirked. "Take all the-"

An explosion interrupted him.

A bright, swirling vortex formed behind Analyn, and she ran to stand directly before the prince. As he opened his mouth to yell an accusation, she interrupted him.

TIID KLO UL

The world seemed to skip a beat, and when the hiccup finished, all five Daedra guarding Kaidan, Garrus, and Wrex were dead on the floor.

The vortex. Shepard realized she was making an effort to get them out of here, although she hadn't been expecting it to be so sudden.

The Commander drew her sword and viciously started to slash at the Daedra to her right. Tali followed suit with the one closest to her, and Liara sent the third one flying with a biotic blast. Some sort of ice behemoth ran at the two by the door, keeping them busy. After he fell, two more creatures made of whirling stones and electricity flew at the entrance and fought off all the Daedric warriors attempting to enter and aid their ruler.

Garrus managed to get down on his knees and recover a dagger from one of the fallen Daedra. He quickly cut their bondings, and they took off in Shepard's direction.

It was now or never.

Embers filled the air, and the energy coursing around them was palpable.

Shepard pointed at the portal and yelled, "Through there!"

She really hoped she had interpreted this right. Judging from Analyn's brief look of relief, she had.

Tali and Liara were the first through, since they were the closest. Shepard ran to help Garrus, Kaidan, and Wrex. Explosions of fire were now going off all around them, and a terrible screeching permeated the air. Dagon had tripled in size, and Analyn was frantically dodging his attacks while shooting arrows up at his torso.

"I am not running away-" Wrex started, but Shepard yelled over him, "You are going to go through that portal right now, do you hear me?" She shoved him into the vortex. Garrus followed, and Kaidan flashed a smile at her before he too went through.

A blast of flame that hit the ground a few feet from where Shepard was standing sent her careening to the ground.

When she stood up, there was no portal to be seen. It was gone.

Analyn apparently sensed this, and turned. A look of horror crossed her face when she saw Shepard still standing there.

Firing one last arrow at the demon, she ran to the commander's side and threw up some kind of magical barrier. She then turned to face the now gigantic Mehrunes Dagon head on.

"I am Analyn, Dragonborn, Argonian, Legate in the Imperial Legion, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Listener for the Dark Brotherhood, Guild Master of the Thieves Guild, Thane of all Nine Holds, Champion of Boethia, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Meridia, Molag Bal, Clavicus Vile, Malacath, Namira, Nocturnal, Peryite, Sanguine, Sheogorath, and yourself, slayer of Alduin the World-eater and Miraak, the First Dragonborn. I have been to Sovngarde and back, I have read an Elder Scroll and retained my sanity, and I am not going to cower before the likes of you." Passion and determination swelled in her voice as she spoke. However, behind her back, Shepard could see she was charging some sort of spell the entire time.

That meant her little speech there had been a distraction. A successful one at that. Dagon had ceased his onslaught momentarily, and Analyn took full advantage of that moment.

She released the magic she had been building up, causing another portal to form.

Right as Shepard ran into it, she heard one last thing.

FUS RO DAH

…

When Shepard awoke, she was staring up at the down-grey sky. Snowflakes lazily floated down, causing pinpricks of cold to form on her face.

With a start, memories of what had just happened flooded into her mind. She sat up, and frantically looked around for the others.

Each member of her crew was lying face up in the snow, in seemingly identical situations to the one Shepard found herself in, although she noted that Analyn was nowhere to be seen. Low stone walls rose in a circle around them, with paths leading out in opposite directions. A pillar of blue light rose out of a well in front of them.

Where the hell were they? None of this was familiar.

Hurried footsteps drew Shepard's attention to the nearer of the two paths.

An older looking man wearing muted robes stood there, panting slightly.

"Who are all of you?" He asked, voice tinged with worry.

"We're, well," Shepard had no idea how to go about explaining their situation to a stranger. Things had gotten much more complicated since they had started travelling with the Argonian. When they were with Analyn, everyone accepted them without comment, but now that they were on their own, she had no idea where to start. "We're travlers. From a distant land." She hoped that would suffice.

His brow furrowed. "Not the normal type, though, since you just used the experimental Lodestone spell known only to our Archmage and her selected advisors."

So that's what that spell had been.

"The Archmage, that's an Argonian named Analyn, correct?"

He nodded.

"She was escorting us across the land. We got into a… rough situation, and she used that spell to help us escape."

"Must've been quite the predicament for her to use it. We only just got it so that it wouldn't strip the flesh from any living thing that went through the transport. Even then, it wasn't 100%."

Further responses from either party were stopped as a smoking figure blasted forth from the pillar of light in the center of the area.

It was Analyn. She got to her feet, and yelled, "Quick! Inside the College! They're coming!"

Shepard had no idea what the college was, but the old man grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards a massive stone building behind them that had somehow gone unnoticed by the commander. By this point, the others were slowly awakening as well, and Shepard pulled her arm away from the man. She got everyone to their feet, and when they were all up, the man said, "Follow me!" They complied, but Shepard turned to catch a glance of Analyn.

She stood in the same spot she had landed when she came through, and was rapidly charging and releasing spells. Two more of the stone, electricity creatures burst into existence, and she started to glow. Balls of lightning crackled in her hands.

Then, a gigantic, blood red gash appeared in the air in front of her.

Daedra started to pour through it.

Analyn released the spells she had charged with a shout.

OD AH VIING

Nothing happened. Maybe it hadn't worked?

A hand grabbed Shepard by the arm and pulled her backwards. She jerked it away, and saw that the grip belonged to Kaidan.

Her eyes softened, and she said, "I'm sorry, but I can't let her fight our fights for us. We're the ones who got her into this mess. She's already saved my life more than a few times, and I owe it to her. Where would we be without her help?"

He started to argue, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he sighed. "You really trust her that much?"

"I do."

He started to glow with biotic energy. "Then I'm helping. I won't leave you to fight those beasts on your own."

"You are in no condition to fight!"

"Don't worry, Tolfdir, the old man, gave me some sort of drink and I feel like I could take down a legion of Geth by myself."

The lack of a counterpoint served as Shepard's accepting of Kaidan's help.

She looked up, and noticed the rest of her crew standing stoically behind him. The determination in their eyes served as a silent affirmation of their agreement with what Kaidan said.

There was no more room for words. Only actions would suffice now.

With one swift, fluid motion, Shepard drew her sword and raised it above her head. Turning, she ran to Analyn side, and with a vicious slash, took down the injured Daedra in front of her.

The Argonian seemed surprised by the commander's presence, but made no objection. She knew that trying to argue would be futile, and there was the fact that it would be impossible to communicate in the throng of Daedric screeches and shouts from bystanders.

All seven of them battled against the Daedric forces, side by side, using bow, knife, and blade.

Luckily, only three or four Daedra could get through the portal at a time, so they swiftly bottlenecked them.

Explosions of magic came from behind, soaring over their heads into the Daedric ranks. Apparently the "College" behind them had some skilled students.

The conflict looked like it would end as quickly as it had begun, but a wave of flames pouring out of the tear sent them all to the ground.

The gap widened, and even more Daedra started swarming out of it.

There seemed no end to their ranks.

An earsplitting roar tore through the air, and sinking feeling Shepard recognized it as a dragon.

A red, spiked dragon hovered down from the skies, and started to rain hellfire down upon the assailants.

It was helping them?

Shepard snapped her attention away from the peculiar occurrence (questions could be asked later when they weren't fighting hordes of demons) and joined Analyn as she resumed her onslaught with blade and spell.

Every ten seconds, a Daedra fell dead to the ground, full of arrows from Garrus's bow. Tali was a blur, the only solid parts were the edges of her daggers. Wrex's battle cry could be heard by everyone in a mile radius, and he smashed through each figure like a child destroying a sand castle. Liara's used her biotics to trap several of the demons in a small area with barriers, then Kaidan sent them flying.

Even with all of the creatures that were dying, there were always more to fill their place, and then some. Slowly, they started to accumulate damage. A gash from a wickedly sharp blade here, a burn from a fireball there; it was not a fight they could continue for much longer.

A familiar hum filled the air, and it automatically sent a rush of hope through Shepard. She hardly even dared to look up, for fear of disproving her emotions, but she did anyways.

The outline of the Normandy could be seen soaring accross the shale colored sky.

She was not the only one of her crew who noticed it, as she could hear Tali and Liara cheer, and saw Kaidan and Garrus smile broadly. Wrex, apparently, was too preoccupied with demolishing Daedra to focus on anything other than his Warhammer, and the creature on the other end of it.

It hovered for a few seconds, then darted off in the direction of the beacon.

Analyn turned to look at Shepard, and started to ask a question, but before she could finish, a blade erupted from her stomach.

Her eyes grew wide, then rolled back into her head as she limply fell to the ground.

The Daedric warrior behind her smirked, and raised his arm for another strike, this time aimed at Shepard.

The next second, and arrow had dug its way through its eye, and it mimicked Analyn's descent.

Shepard collapsed next to her fallen friend, and frantically pulled of one of the spiked gauntlets to check for a pulse.

Nothing.

Blood was slowly oozing around the Commander's knees from the wound in the Argonian's abdomen.

She stood up slowly, and prepared to fight those damned beasts to the death.

And yet, there weren't any to release her rage on.

A shimmering barrier contained the portal, held up by various men and women, as well as Liara and Kaidan.

Despite their best efforts, the demons couldn't break through.

It was over.

"Well thank the Divines."

A familiar, raspy voice came from behind Shepard.

"Wh-what?" She whipped around.

Standing there, as full of life as ever, stood Analyn.

"Hey, could you give me my gauntlet back? I kinda need that. It's part of the set."

"You were dead! I swear, I swear I checked and you were-" Panic and disbelief ran rampant through the Commander's words.

"Long story, but I can't die. Anyways, are you and your crew alright? That was quite the-"

"NO! You cannot just pass off the fact that you came back from the dead so nonchalantly!" Shepard refused to let it drop. Everything that had happened here had been fantastical and unbelievable, but this was a whole other field. Death was finite. You couldn't just brush of dying as "just what it's like in Skyrim" and a smile.

Analyn's cheerful façade dropped. It seemed she was trying to avoid the topic. "Fine, fine, I guess you deserve to know." She took a deep breath. "So you know how I mentioned my… checkered past?"

Shepard nodded slowly.

"Well, in the course of that, I've pledged my soul to multiple afterlives: The Void, the Twilight Sepulcher, Sovngarde, and more planes of Oblivion than I'd like to remember. Because of that, I've become a very valuable soul, so if I ever actually died, a conflict would break out over where I'd go. Each afterlife would want me for itself. Therefore, if by some chance I do die, the various beings I've pledged my soul to revive me so that doesn't happen. The precarious balance that currently exists is just begging for some kind of catalyst to set it off, and enough all-powerful creatures want to prevent that war that they're willing to bend the rules a little."

"Does that mean you're immortal?"

"Well, technically. At least, I'm immortal until they get their shit together and work something out. But that won't happen for a long while, so I'm good for now."

Before Shepard had a chance to let everything the Argonian had told her process fully, Analyn asked, "So your ship, how do you suppose we contact it?"

"Wh-what?"

"Well, it's here. The beacon worked. Don't you need to board it? How will it get down here?"

"Do you have any teleportation spells like the one you used to get us out of that… place?" Garrus asked, crossing his arms in thought.

"No, that spell is an experiment, and the only way it works is with the Magika pools at the college. I couldn't make a portal to anywhere else. Plus, that spell is the very reason those Daedra were able to come through in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the spell weakens the fabric of our plane, meaning Dagon was able to fully tear it with little effort. That meant there was a clear conduit between here and the Deadlands."

The old man named Tolfdir came up behind them and added to Analyn's point, "That's how we stopped the battle. We were able to contain the break, and lucky for us it will be fairly simple to heal."

Shepard sighed with relief at the knowledge that they wouldn't have to face anymore of those demons. "Thank goodness. I'm glad that's taken care of. I hate to change the subject, but we still need to figure out a way to get to the Normandy."

"This sounds silly, but what about riding a dragon up there?" Liara sheepishly piped up.

"With myself absent, Pressely is in charge. I doubt he would take to kindly to a gigantic, mythological beast flying at his ship." Shepard gingerly shot down the idea.

"Is there any kind of Shout?" Tali contributed.

"Not that I know of." Analyn replied, shrugging.

"So we have no way to contact the Normandy? Nothing at all?" Shepard searched the faces of her crew, but all were blank. "We'll just have to hope they're heading to the beacon to investigate…" She trailed off when an idea struck her. "They're probably going to send out the Mako, if Pressley believes we might be on this planet, in order to search the area around the beacon." Turning to Analyn, she inquired, "What's the closest large, flat piece of land to the Shrine?"

"Probably the plains of Whiterun Hold, why?"

Realization lit up Kaidan's face, "You're going to try to intercept the Mako?"

"We don't know if they're even going to use it!" Garrus exclaimed. "What if they determine the beacon is just some natural oddity and leave?"

"We have to believe that won't happen." Shepard was worried about that same thing, but she put as much conviction into her voice as she could manage. If there was ever a time for her to stand strong and give her crew hope, now was it. "Analyn, we need to get to Whiterun Hold as fast as possible."

The Argonian grinned. "Then let's get going."

* * *

 **See? Told you it'd be a doozy. It's the longest chapter so far, but the next one is looking like it might be longer...**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! I really appreciate it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Man, this has been quite the ride. This story is by far the longest thing I've ever written, and with this chapter becomes long enough to qualify as a novel.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has kept up with this story for so long, and I hope this final chapter does it justice.**

 **I'm genuinely excited for this chapter, and as always, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Analyn gave brief goodbyes to Toldir and the other mages of the college. She could tell that they all had burning questions, but she assured them that she would answer them all when there was not such a high value on her time. Odaviing had flown away once it became apparent that the conflict was handled, and the ward surrounding the divide were being kept up by five mages who took shifts. It was not a permanent solution, but it would have to do for now. The Dragonborn told them it would eventually close up on its own, but she knew better deep down. It was going to require effort to figure out how to solve it, and there was not enough time for that at the moment.

They took off out of town at a sprint, and the Argonian passed around healing and stamina potions to all who needed them. As soon as Shadowmere came into view, Analyn realized that they were in the middle of nowhere with seven people and one horse.

Analyn stopped moving, and Shepard turned to give her a worried look.

"Is something wrong?"

"There's no way we'll make it quickly enough on foot, and we only have one horse, with no other horses for miles and miles."

"Shit."

"Someone is going to need to ride ahead, alone."

The entire crew looked at Shepard.

She blushed, and replied, "I actually have no idea how to ride a horse. Do any of you…?"

Various "no's" and shaken heads were her response.

"That means I have to go." Analyn said. "There is no time to teach any of you, and while I hate to abandon you all here in this unsavory place I have to if you want to get word to the rest of your men."

Shepard nodded. "You're right, you need to go."

The Dragonborn leaped up onto the pitch black steed, and asked, "What am I looking for?"

"It, well," Shepard seemed to be searching for words.

"I get it; we don't have anything like it here. That means I'll know it when I see it."

A kick to the horse's side and she took off leaving a puff of frozen crystals floating in the air behind her. She called out, "Follow the road and the signposts! They'll lead you to Whiterun without fail."

With that, the others fell out of earshot and all Analyn could hear was the northern wind rushing against her.

…

Time seemed to be immaterial to the Argonian as she raced towards the fields of Whiterun. Briefly she wondered why she would put her entire life for these people, but the thought flew out of her mind as quickly as the road rushed away under Shadowmere's hooves.

It had been a ridiculously short amount of time in the grand scheme of things, and yet she already felt so connected to these people. Their time together had been saturated with enough experiences to forge a bond between them.

Before her, the golden expanse of Whiterun crept in from the horizon.

She hoped whatever she was looking for was big.

…

"Halt! Who are you?" A glaring man stopped Shepard and her crew on the road southward. He was clad in blue and gold robes, with three others in identical clothes behind him.

"We are travelers, and we have no quarrel with you." Shepard tried to diffuse all the tension he was emitting, and started to walk past him.

The man's hand shot out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back forcefully.

"Don't think I'll buy that for a second. You wear strange clothes, and your companions are quite obviously not from Tamriel." He sniffed and looked her up and down. "You even smell like a Daedra."

"I promise we have nothing to do with the daedra." Shepard tried to backtrack, but it was obvious the man was not interested in what she had to say.

"So you say. Come with us quietly if you wish to plead your case."

"We would, but we need to be-"

"I will have none of your excuses! Stendarr's mercy be upon you, for we have none to spare." He drew the mace from its resting place by his waist, and the others with him followed suit.

"We don't want to fight you!" Shepard yelled, but she could tell that the situation had spiraled beyond her control.

The man swung at her, his mace connecting solidly with her shoulder.

Wincing, she stumbled back and tried to draw her sword. As the man prepared to bring his mace back down, he flew back, slamming into the rest of his followers. Kaidan stood beside her, biotic energy glowing around him.

Shepard had recovered from the blow, finally managing to ready her blade. As a last-ditch attempt at avoiding a fight, she said, "There are six of us and four of you. You can't possibly hope to win."

"That makes no difference." The man who had attacked her had gained his footing as well. "If we want to cleanse this world of the scum that wishes to use our lives at playthings, then we must be willing to sacrifice that life. If we can provide a resistance against your kind, then our lives will have had meaning. Even if you live, we will rest easy in Sovangarde knowing we died for our cause." Again, he lunged at her.

She blocked, but couldn't prevent feeling a small amount of guilt at fighting them. Their positions could be so easily reversed; these people had a right to be cautious of her crew. Wanting to protect the world from the daedra was, as far as Shepard could see, a perfectly righteous cause.

She had to prevent herself before she got too lost in thought, as her attacker stepped back, giving the commander the opportunity to slash across his torso. Tali was dancing around one of the assailants, while Garrus had retreated to the back of the group to fire arrows safely from a distance. Liara and Kaidan were setting up barriers to try and protect from the icicles and fireballs coming from the opposing side, and Wrex was charging the remaining two.

It was over in a mere ten minutes.

As their blood slowly seeped out, dying the snow around Shepard's feet maroon, she knew that the only reason they were enemies was sheer circumstance.

That knowledge didn't make her guilt lessen, but they needed to keep going.

Was this what their companionship with Analyn had been protecting them from? The moral greyness of being different?

Sighing, she stepped over their bodies, and continued the race to find the Mako.

…

Analyn had ridden across half of Whiterun Hold and was starting to lose hope when she found it. A large, grey machine roared across the hill in front of her.

She assumed it was the Mako considering she had never seen anything like it in Skyrim before. It reminded her of a cart, but without horses and with a cannon on top of it.

That's when she realized she had no idea how to contact it.

The only thing she could think of seemed ridiculously stupid, yet she had no other ideas. Steeling her will, she rode out directly in its path and yelled, "Are you the Mako?"

It ground to a halt, and a voice echoed out from it. "How do you know about the Mako? There has been no contact with this world."

Analyn sighed with relief that it hadn't run her over. "Commander Shepard told me. I assume you are from her ship, the Normandy?"

A long pause followed. "You have made contact with Commander Shepard?"

"Yes, obviously, that's what I just said."

"How can we trust what you say?"

Analyn opened her mouth to answer, then realized she didn't have one. She had no proof of her connection to the Commander, and no feasible argument to offer.

"You have no reason to, really. Just know that Shepard is on this planet, so don't leave. Keep looking and you'll find her. Eventually."

A long silence paused, as if it was thinking.

A different voice spoke. The thought occurred to Analyn that there were people in there.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yes! Yes, I do. I can take you to her; I could take weeks off your search time." The Argonian made her voice as genuine as she could.

"Okay, okay, we'll follow you. However, at the first sign of anything fishy, we will attack." It had returned to the first voice.

The wave of relief that washed over the Dragonborn almost knocked her off Shadowmere.

"Oh thank the Divines. This makes everything so much easier! Just stick behind me; we should run into them in a day or two."

She turned her horse, and started back the way she had come. The low grumble of the vehicle behind her indicated it was true to its word and following.

…

"Are you sure you can't go any faster?"

Analyn rolled her eyes, and snapped "No, for the thousandth time, I cannot. If you want to wildly roam around the fields of Skyrim on your own, be my guest."

The voice fell silent, but the Mako didn't turn away.

They had been going for a day, with no sign of the others. Analyn felt despondent thinking about the next several days going on like this.

There hadn't even been that many bears or bandits to break up the boring monotony of walking. The only interesting thing had been a run in with Mai'q, but at the sight of the Mako, he took a swig from his bottle of skooma and ignored them.

That's when Analyn saw six blurry figures on the horizon.

"There! There they are!" She called out, spurring Shadowmere into a gallop.

"Hey! You can go fas-"

"You're seriously going to complain about that right now?" Analyn called over her shoulder as she raced towards the Commander.

The Mako roared loudly in response, and quickly came up alongside the Argonian.

Apparently Shepard and the others noticed them, because the figures in the distance started to pick up the pace as well.

In a matter of minutes, the two groups were united.

Swinging off her horse, Analyn yelled, "I found it! I found the Mako!"

Shepard was smiling wider that she had ever seen before.

"Commander! It's good to see you." The voice from the Mako spoke.

"You too, Pressely!"

Analyn whipped around, and saw a human standing behind her, presumably one of the riders of the Mako.

Behind him was a woman with short, silver hair and a Redguard-looking woman.

"I told you we should listen to her, and looks like I was right." The woman spoke, sounding bemused.

"Well I'm sorry I don't want to go around randomly trusting every alien I meet." The one named Pressely replied.

"Oh, of course, you haven't met your guide yet, have you?" Shepard interjected. "Pressely, Doctor, Grenado, this is Analyn. She has been invaluable in our survival on this planet, and we would never have made it this far without her."

Analyn, not knowing how to follow up that introduction, saluted in the Imperial fashion with a fist over her heart.

"The name is Pressely. I'm the navigator of the Normandy." He paused before continuing. "It's good to know your name, Analyn. I'm sorry for not trusting you, but- "

"It's quite alright, I understand."

"I'm Chakwas, the ship's doctor. Thank you for aiding our commander and the others with her. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't been able to find them."

"You're the one who convinced Pressely to trust me?"

She chuckled. "I am. I'm glad I made that call."

"Me too. My next course of action was going to be attack you and try to have you chase me back to the others. This way was significantly easier."

The doctor widened her eyes a bit, but continued to smile.

The third person did what the Argonian assumed was a salute. "Private Grenado. I'm an officer stationed on the Normandy. I offer my sincere gratitude for helping my commanding officer."

Analyn simply smiled and nodded. That was generally the best response to those overly serious military types.

"Is the Normandy in orbit?" Shepard inquired as soon as the introductions were over.

"Yes ma'am."

"Contact Joker and tell him to land the ship in the plains of Whiteru- I mean the big plateau to the southwest."

He nodded, and entered into the Mako. The other two with him soon joined.

Analyn secretly really wanted to ride in that thing and see what it was like.

"How will your people… react to seeing my ship?" Shepard turned to address her.

"Hopefully, they'll collectively pass it off as seeing things. Too much to drink, trick of the light, just an odd-looking dragon. Most probably won't even get the chance to see it at all, if we're lucky. If not, it will become the greatest mystery for our scholars to solve for the next hundreds of years."

"I was hoping to avoid that. It would be best if I affected the culture of your planet as little as possible."

"If you want, I could find everyone who witnessed it and kill them."

Shepard stared dumbfounded at her.

"That was a joke."

"Oh thank God."

"Besides, killing all those people would probably have a bigger, and worse, impact on the future of Skyrim."

"You're probably right."

A low roar much louder than anything Analyn had heard from the Mako filled the air.

Light sparked in Shepard's eyes, who stood quickly and looked up at the sky. Following her gaze, Analyn saw it.

A massive device, much larger than any ship the Dragonborn had ever seen was lowering out of the sky. "Normandy" was painted across the side in white lettering.

"Holy shit." Analyn breathed.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Tali commented.

"Absence does make the heart grow fonder, as they say." Garrus followed up.

It touched down, sending a blast of wind blowing past them.

The Mako started driving towards it, Shepard and the others behind it.

Analyn stood there, frantically trying to think of a way to say goodbye.

"It has been a long while since I've gone on an adventure like that, so I just wanted to… thank you."

Shepard turned to reply, but was cut off by cackling laughter.

The smell of sulfur drifted in on the breeze.

"Do you really think I'd give up that easily? I thought better of you, my champion." Each word was spat out with a deadly precision.

All seven of them immediately drew their weapons and started to search the area for any approaching Daedra.

"Who is that?" Pressely's voice came from within the Mako.

"See? This kind of ignorance is what I want to fix."

"That's a demon from this world named Mehrunes Dagon. He wants us to give him the information he needs so he can leave this place." Shepard replied.

"Yet you refused me, and now all I want is to wipe you off the face of Nirn." The Prince spat out his words in rage. "I do not have the patience of my brother, Mora, or the craftiness of my brother Boethia, unfortunately for you."

"A-a demon, you said?" Pressely stammered.

Before anyone got the chance to respond, a different voice spoke. The familiar, slow drawl sent shivers up Analyn's spine.

"Ah, brother, you honor me with your words."

Slowly, tendrils of smoke swirled up from the ground and formed a black mass in the sky that blocked the sun. Tentacles tentatively crept out, and one gigantic eye opened its lid.

Analyn saw the looks of horror on the faces of her companions.

"It seems I am not the only one after our visitors here. I never expected you to seek out knowledge for yourself, Dagon."

"By the Goddess, what is that?" Liara whispered.

"That is the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora, lord of memory, fate, and knowledge." Analyn said, slightly in shock. It had been a while since her last visit to Apocrypha, and she had forgotten the awe and the disgust that came with the sight of the Daedra's form. Seeing him in a dream could not replicate the response of reality.

"Stay out of this, Mora! You have no place here!" Dagon's voice roared around them.

"And what gives you any right?"

"I was promised it! I was promised I would be the one to destroy them!"

Analyn, piped up cautiously, "Who promised you, Lord Dagon?"

"A powerful being from their world named 'Saren.' He told me of their races and told me of their abilities and how they had powerful weapons completely unknown to this world. He told me of a human named Shepard and their crew, and that he would reward me with the knowledge of that power if I destroyed them. That is the right I have, Mora, unlike your mere meddling."

The piece of the puzzle that Analyn hadn't even known was missing fell into place. It hadn't occurred to her that the Daedric Princes of this world wouldn't know who Shepard and her crew were; they had always been all-powerful and omniscient on this world, so Analyn had just assumed they were the same in other worlds as well.

"Why try to make a deal with us then? Why give us the option to go if we told you what you wanted to know?" Kaidan spoke for the first time in a while, his voice still slightly horse from his stint in the Deadlands.

The demon laughed, "I can tell a kindred spirit when I see one. I knew that Turian would leave bits and pieces out of what he promised me. He might even have planned an ambush. I had hoped to circumvent that by getting that knowledge directly from you." Explosions of fire rocked the ground around them, and when the smoke cleared a circle of daedra surrounded them. "Pity it didn't work out like that, but it appears I'm running out of time."

The grotesque mass above them writhed, and commented, "you do realize, brother, that you don't have to give them everything they ask for. Only a fool reveals everything he knows to an opponent."

"IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE, MORA, FOR THEY SHALL SOON LAY SLAIN UPON THE GROUND!" Dagon screamed.

Half the Daedra attacked Shepard and the others while the other half started to blast fireballs at the Mako. The vehicle tried to blast the demons back with its cannon, but they were too close-range to get off an accurate shot.

Analyn got close to Shepard and murmured, "Get them all in one area. I'll handle it from there."

The Commander nodded, and she gestured to the rest of her crew. In a few minutes, they had the Daedra all grouped together, minus the ones attacking the Mako.

"Take care of the ones attacking your comrades." Analyn said. It looked like the vehicle wasn't doing so great, as it had smoke erupting from several sections and the shimmering blue field surrounding it seemed to have disappeared.

Hopefully they wouldn't mind what happened next as long as it saved them.

Black tentacles burst from the ground, directly in front of the Daedra, lashing and grasping. Analyn pulled out a bow and started firing arrows at point blank range as they attempted to get to her through the writhing mass.

That attempt was a futile one, as soon they all fell to the ground. The tentacles receded, their job completed.

Shepard pulled her sword from the sole Daedra left standing by the Mako, and shot an inquisitive look at Analyn.

The Dragonborn didn't fail to notice the brief look of disgust from some of the others.

"Really, Mehrunes Dagon, that's all you've got? Just some Daedric warriors? You really must be desperate." Analyn decided to nip the awkward moment in the bud by changing the subject.

A roar of pure rage met her words. "HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS TO ME! THE DAEDRIC LORD OF AMBITION IS NEVER DESPERATE YOU PATHETIC MORTAL!"

"Then send more Daedra after us. Right now. Go."

Silence.

"Well? We're waiting."

"BAH, I DON'T NEED THE HELP OF YOU WORTHLESS CREATURES. I WILL MAKE MY OWN WAY TO THE STARS, AND YOU CAN BE SURE TO FEAR THAT DAY WHEN IT COMES, FOR I WILL NOT LEAVE A SINGLE WORLD UNTOUCHED BY MY DESTRUCTION!"

"Good luck with that." Analyn poured as much sarcasm as she could muster into her words. She doubted the Daedra would figure out how to do what he promised, his feats over the past several days would most likely put him out of commission for a century or two, but the thought of the Prince running rampant throughout all the universe armed with weapons she couldn't even imagine did plant a seed of worry somewhere in her mind.

The air seemed to lighten, and the sulfuric scent wafted away.

"I see you still use my gifts, Dragonborn." Hermaeus Mora spoke after silence to let Dagon's words sink in. "And yet you disobey me. This is a dangerous path you tread."

"I am fully aware of the path I tread, Mora."

The grotesque mass wheezed. "Then you are fully aware of the consequences."

Suddenly, a massive black tentacle shot up from the ground underneath the Mako, spearing it through the center.

Shepard drew her sword and cried out, Kaidan's biotics burst to life, Liara covered her mouth with her hands, Garrus nocked an arrow in his bow and drew it, Tali flinched back, and Wrex growled and swung his Warhammer from his back.

However, the tentacle receded after a few seconds, leaving a gaping hole where it had punctured the shell of the Mako.

"Pressely! Chakwas! Grenado! Are you all ok?" Shepard called out desperately.

"Myself and Pressely are alright, commander." The doctor replied, sounding shaken. "I'm afraid I cannot say the same for Private Grenado…"

"What do you mean, Doctor?"

"Well, that… thing just burst up from the floor and ran her through. There was no way she could have survived."

Morbid quiet fell over the group at her words.

"This is what happens when you don't give me what I want, Dragonborn. Things have to get messy."

The wretched abyss slowly receded, and the area became visibly brighter.

"What the hell was that?!" Kaidan yelled.

"That was Mora's… unique way of procuring information. I'm afraid your comrade will not have survived." Analyn somberly replied.

"Wait, what do you mean procuring information?" Shepard interjected.

"Well, know Mora knows everything that Grenado knew. He possesses knowledge of your ships, your stars, and your weapons."

Tense silence crashed down.

"You mean to tell me one of those… a demon lord has access to the rest of the galaxy?" Analyn could tell Shepard was trying to keep her voice calm.

"Don't worry, I doubt Mora would want to do anything with it. He cares more about possessing knowledge than putting it to use. He's no Dagon." Analyn tried to make that calm in the Commander's voice genuine.

"How can you be sure he won't share it-"

"Daedric Princes aren't really known for their sharing."

Shepard shared a look with the rest of her crew. They nodded, and Shepard seemed to come to an internal conclusion of her own. "I trust you. I've put my faith in you more than a few times while we've been here, and so far it seems to have been well-placed. So this time, I'm going to trust you again. I'll take that risk."

Analyn beamed. "I'm glad I've earned that. It means a lot to have someone's trust, especially someone who knows about who you really are."

Shepard hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Analyn, I have something to ask you."

"What is it? I doubt any guards are going to challenge you on the walk to your ship?" She chuckled.

"No, not exactly. I was wondering, would you want to join us aboard the Normandy? It would be an honor to serve with you by my side. I've already talked to the others about it, and they all agreed."

"Even Kaidan?"

Kaidan rolled his eyes, but Shepard laughed and said, "yes, even Kaidan."

It seemed like the entire world ceased to spin. Ever since Shepard had told Analyn the truth about where they were from the Argonian had dreamed about seeing the world of the stars for herself, but she hadn't actually expected that dream to be realized. The reality of leaving everything she had ever known to go explore a place entirely foreign sent chills down her spine. It also worried her, but she knew that Shepard would be by her side to help her just as Analyn had helped the Commander.

"Psh, go to the stars and see fantastical worlds I couldn't dream of? Why on Nirn would I want that?" Analyn teased.

"Ah, too bad. Guess we're just going to have to-" Shepard started to turn.

"No, no, no, I'm joking! Why in Oblivion would I say no to an offer like that?!"

Shepard chuckeld, "I figured that's what you'd say. Welcome aboard Analyn!"

"It's good to have you!" Garrus said, clapping her on the shoulder.

"You seem to be a worthy warrior, and I am quite fond of this Warhammer you made me." Wrex grunted. Analyn swore she saw him smiling slightly.

"I'm so excited to spend more time with you! You can tell me all about Skyrim now!" Liara excitedly said, clasping Analyn's hand.

"Yes, I'm also interested to get to know you more without being constantly attacked by wolves." Tali added.

"I'll admit, I didn't trust you at first, and I'm not entirely sure I do now, but you've earned Commander Shepard's trust, and that's enough for me." Kaidan said, approaching the Argonian. "I see that my original judgement of you might not have been valid, but I'm still keeping an eye on you." Despite what he said, he extended a hand out for the Dragonborn to shake.

She took him up on the offer and replied, "I hope that someday I'll be able to earn that trust."

"So it's settled then?" Shepard said with a hint of finality. "I hope that's alright with you Pressely and Chakwas."

"I don't see a problem with it." The doctor replied with a shrug. "Maybe we could learn something."

"Yeah, I guess if we already have aliens on board, another won't hurt. She did help us find you, after all." Pressely followed.

"Then let's get going. We have a galatic war to stop." Shepard said, nodding.

"Wait, what?" Analyn sputtered.

"I'll catch you up on it later." Tali leaned in and whispered.

With that, all those gathered in the plains of Whiterun turned and boarded the ship that starkly contrasted the world around it.

With a dull cacophony and a burst of wind, the machine took to the sky.


	15. Author's Note

**Quick update and notice about the upcoming sequel story!**

Hey there! Thank you so much for reading this story, and I really hope you enjoyed it!

So it's been awhile since this story concluded. It was the first time I had ever actually completed a "longer-than-a-one-shot" story, and it was awesome. Heck, it wasn't even super long, and I knew I had a lot more story left to tell. It felt great, and I actually fairly quickly started work on a sequel story. However, as is the way with life, school started to really get into the nitty-gritty of things, and so work on the story definitely slowed. I had a couple chapter's done by about November, but I didn't want to start uploading chapters until I had the first ones all written and edited so there would be less of a delay. And then it was January, and I lost all of the documents I had saved to my computer. A complete wipe, nothing could be recovered. Surprisingly, I still had a little luck, and the first three chapters had survived via the email I had sent them in to my proofreader. However, the others I was working on were not so lucky. Losing all of my writing was extremely defeating, and it has taken me awhile to work up the motivation to keep writing. But here I am! Finally getting my act together, and here to announce the sequel.

But the point of this note isn't just to make excuses or throw myself a pity party. I also wanted to thank everyone for reading this story. I know, I know, I did that in the short A/N on the final chapter, but I really want to emphasize how much it meant to me. I loved answering all your questions, and responding/trying to fix your criticisms. I feel like through writing this I've become better at what I do (you can almost see it in the differences between the first and final chapters), and I'm excited to see how the sequel plays out.

I had a better version of that in the documents on my computer that I lost _but I'm not salty about it._

So this is it, the official announcement that a sequel to "Guns and Swords" will be posting soon! The setting will be Mass Effect 2, with a Skyrim that I got to make up 2 years worth of history for (don't worry, I didn't do anything super crazy).

Here's hoping I can come up with a better title than the one this one had!


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